HEALTH. 161 



knew Fahrenheit to fall from 52 plus to 4 minus in twenty-four 

 hours. 



The greatest degree of cold in a winter is greater here than 

 on the Atlantic in the same latitude, as the philosopher would 

 judge from his scienc^ without the testimony of a witness. 

 The great reservoir of latent caloric, in the deep bed of the 

 Atlantic, must of necessity mitigate the extreme rigor of the 

 atmosphere from the earth. In a residence of sixteen years 

 on the Missisippi, the writer thinks that no winter passed 

 when the thermometer did not go as low as 24 below zero, 

 by Fahrenheit, in lat. 41^ to 42^. There is not, however, a 

 great deal of snow in the winter, nor is there generally much 

 rain in the summer. In most of the seasons within the 

 WTiter's observation, the crops would have suffered by drought, 

 if it had not been for the abundant dews. 



The spring is a shorter season here than east of the moun- 

 tains. Wild flowers make their appearance from the 10th to 

 the 15th of April. The fall is a most delightful season. The 

 heats of summer correspond exactly, measuring by the ther- 

 mometer, with other places in the same parallel. But the 

 atmosphere is not so dense, and of course the heat has a 

 greater effect upon the human system, and the rays of the 

 sun, coming with less refraction, produce a stronger glare 

 upon the eye, as well as a more scorching heat in the veins. 



Next to the air in preserving health, perhaps superior to it, 

 is pure water. This is a limestone countr}^, and of course all 

 the water is impregnated with this stone. The writer is no 

 physician ; — but he considers a limestone w^ater as particu- 

 larly favorable to health. The water is of an agreeable taste, 

 pleasant, and very clear. But the inhabitants have a very 

 disgusting practice of drinking from the rivers and running 

 streams, into which every unclean thing enters. The bucket 

 is thrown from the steamboat within one or two rods of the 



