234 L. A. Waddell — On some new and little 'known [No. 3, 



gives a sensation of decided heat ; which contrast becomes less marked 

 during the day when the sun has heated up the earth and air, causing 

 these to approach the temperature of the spring. 



The temperature of some of the springs, however, does seem occa- 

 sionally to undergo actual fluctuation according to season and other 

 conditions not yet well ascertained. This indeed might to a certain 

 extent be expected, seeing that hot springs derive their heat more or 

 less directly from volcanic action — which is essentially subject to alter- 

 nate periods of activity and relative rest. A notable instance of this 

 fluctuation is cited by Dr. Buchanan in his report on the Sita-kund 

 " spring. He writes : " I visited this spring first on the 7th April, a 

 " little after sunrise. The thermometer in the open air stood at 68° F. 

 " and in the hottest part of the reservoir where many air-bubbles rose, 

 " it stood at 130°. The priests said, that about eight days before it had 

 " become cooler, and that the heat would gradually diminish till the 

 " commencement of the rainy season. I visited the spring again on the 

 " 20th of April at sunset, the air having been hot all day and parching; 

 " the thermometer in the air stood at 84°, in the well it rose to 122°. 

 " On the 28th April I visited it again a little after sunset, the wind 

 " blowing strong from the east, but not parching. The temperature in 

 " the air was at 90° ; in the well it only rose to 92°. The water still 

 " continued clear ; but soon after, owing to the reduction of the heat, 

 " and the natives being in consequence able to bathe in the well, the 

 *' water became so dirty as to be no longer drinkable by an European. 

 " Indisposition for some time prevented me from being able to revisit 

 "the place ; but in the beginning of July, on the commencement of the 

 *' rainy season the water, in consequence of the return of the heat, 

 " became again limpid ; and on the 26th of that month a native sent 

 *' with the thermometer found at sunset that it stood in the air at 

 " 90°, and in the water at 132°. In the evening of the 21st September, 

 " the thermometer stood in the air at 88°, in the cistern at 138°, and the 

 ''number of air bubbles had very evidently increased."* That record 

 was made about eighty years ago. I find on enquiry from the priests at 

 Sita-kund that the water still becomes slightly cooler in early summer, 

 but since forty years ago it has never become so cool as to permit of bath- 

 ing, and they endeavour to make a miracle of this by saying that the 

 annual cooling of the pool ceased immediately after the visit of a certain 

 Maharatta raja. In January of this year I found the highest tempera- 

 ture to be 137° F., and two months later at the same site the temperature 

 registered 136°. When Sir Joseph Hooker visited the place on April 



* Loc. cit., p. 197. 



