68 
No. VII.—MEDICINE. 
The information which can be obtained in foreign countries 
with regard to medicine depends, in the first place, on the 
competence of the observer, that is to say, whether a qualified 
medical man or a traveller who has some knowledge of 
medicine, and again, whether the observer is resident in a 
foreign country or simply travelling through it. In this 
section the first general questions may be answered 
by any intelligent traveller. The latter questions are 
intended only for qualified medical men. It is of great 
importance that all returns should be made with the 
greatest accuracy, and that the place where the observations 
are made should be definitely stated, the latitude, longitude, 
and altitude being given. Observers should also remember 
that detailed obsei vations are of a higher scientific value than 
general statements. With regard to statistics, they can for 
the most part be only obtained by persons resident for a con¬ 
siderable time in a given locality, but at the same time in 
travelling through a country many valuable statistics can be 
obtained if care is taken to give the number of the popula¬ 
tion, &c. 
On first arriving in a foreign country it is necessary to 
investigate, as closely as possible, the action of the climate 
upon Europeans, and it will be found, as a rule, that the 
action of climate varies to some extent, at any rate, according 
to the nationality and birth place of the European. Northern 
and Southern Europeans for instance, being variously affected 
by a tropical climate. A person travelling through a country 
can do much to elucidate the geographical distribution of 
various diseases ; on the other hand, a person stationed for a 
year or so abroad can obtain the most valuable information 
as to the etiology of disease, the prevalence of disease at 
various seasons, and the influence which race, food, and 
climate have upon the production of, or immunity from, 
disease. It is important to pay attention to the normal 
temperature of persons in various parts of the world, as up to 
the present this point has been greatly neglected, see 
