ON THE INFLUENCE OF WEATHER UPON MORTALITY. 339 



From the foregoing tables it would seem : — 



1 . That a low mean temperature of the winter months gives rise to an increase 

 in the death-rate from phthisis, and that this relationship is the more clearly 

 observable if the low temperature be sustained for some time without intermission, 

 as in the case of the months from November 1859 to February 1860 inclusive. 

 A high summer temperature does not seem to increase the fatality of phthsis. It 

 is only when the temperature of winter is remarkably low that the increased 

 death-rate from phthisis is distinctly traceable to that cause. 



2. That the relationship between the monthly range of temperature and the 

 death-rate from phthisis is uncertain, and that the latter is not under the control 

 of the former. 



3. That the daily range of temperature exerts no constant influence upon the 

 death-rate from phthisis. 



4. That there is no constant relationship observable between the mean monthly 

 height of the barometer and the death-rate from phthisis. 



5. That if there be any indication of a constant relationship between the 

 monthly range of the barometer and the death-rate from phthisis, it is that the 

 death-rate increases with the range. 



6. That the rainfall bears no constant relationship to the death-rate from 

 phthisis. It is possible, however, that it may be inverse in the colder and direct 

 in the warmer months. 



7. That possibly an increase in the number of days during which north, north- 

 east, and east winds prevail, may give rise to an increase in the death-rate from 

 phthisis. 



C. The Influence of Weather upon Mortality from Bronchitis. 



The influence of the weather upon diseases of the respiratory organs differs 

 greatly from its influence upon phthisis pulmonalis. In the former, the atmo- 

 sphere comes immediately into contact with the seat of the malady ; in the latter, 

 it merely touches a local manifestation of the disease. It is the oversight of this 

 difference that leads to so much disappointment in the employment of change of 

 climate as a remedial agent. In selecting a locality for the residence of a patient 

 afflicted with a disease of the respiratory system, — as bronchitis, asthma, or the 

 laryngeal affections, — too much care cannot be observed in matters meteoro- 

 logical ; but, in choosing a winter resort for a phthisical patient, there are many 

 circumstances of more weighty importance than the weather, to the consideration 

 of which meteorology ought to be subordinated. Change of climate as a remedial 

 agent in the treatment of consumption is exceedingly valuable when properly 

 employed, but equally mischievous when used -without a due regard to all the 



