116 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TEAYEL 
Observatory at Batavia show an extreme range of only 
30° Eahr. during that period. The monthly mean tem¬ 
peratures do not differ more than 2°, that of January 
being 77°‘48, and that of May 79°*59. The usual daily 
range is from about 74° to 84°, and during the whole 
year the temperature seldom falls much below 7 0° or 
rises above 90°. At elevations of from 3000 to 5000 
feet above the sea the thermometer is usually about 20° 
lower than the figures above given, producing a climate 
very agreeable to European constitutions, and suitable to 
the corn, fruits, flowers, and vegetables of the temperate 
zone, which have long been acclimatised. Java may be 
said on the whole to be very fairly healthy. The 
malarial fevers are milder and less common than in the 
other great islands of the archipelago, and diseases of the 
lungs are rare. But on the other hand zymotic disorders 
are prevalent, beri-beri and smallpox are very fatal, and 
the towns are ravaged from time to time with severe 
epidemics of cholera. In 1889 no less than 16,000 
persons fell victims to this scourge of the East. 
5. Flora and Fauna. 
The botany of Java is exceedingly rich and diversified, 
and the peculiar Malayan flora is here developed in its 
highest luxuriance and beauty; over 9000 phanerogamous 
plants being known to exist in the island. The villages, and 
even the towns are in great part concealed from view by the 
luxuriant abundance and perpetual verdure of the vege¬ 
tation. Patches of sandy shore or of bare lava-coloured 
peaks are the exception, and quite one-fifth of the island 
is still covered with forest, despite the denseness of the 
population. The vegetation varies with the soil, whether 
