POONA DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
31
main streets, but in the off-streets and lanes a few unsafe dilapidated buildings can be seen.
Courtyards are perhaps too common, unless they are kept strictly clean, which in the village
they are not ; they accumulate and conceal filth, and in the event of any epidemic would be the
very foci of infection and contagion. Cows too should be housed in sheds apart from human
dwellings ; at present they can be viewed in verandahs of houses and in other places in
much too close proximity to their human inmates. There is a tan-yard near the village, from
which most offensive effluvia proceed; to pass in the neighbourhood of it is at times almost
impossible owing to the disgusting smell; under such circumstances, it must be a nuisance at
least to those living in the vicinity, and as such it should be removed to a distance from
human dwellings.
The changes of season have been more distinctly marked in this; than in preceding years.
The rains have been more abundant, 27 inches 70 cents, perhaps a little above the average ;
but in Seroor the amount of rain registered falls so far short of the rainfall of Poona
and Ahmednuggur for the year, that it is difficult to understand how the rainfall in
Seroor could be much in excess during the past year. By comparing the rainfall of Seroor
with Poona and Ahmednuggur rains of former years, I find Seroor is least, although rising to
a much greater height above the sea than either. In the case of Poona a reason for this
difference would be found in its greater proximity to the sea coast and range of high hills ;
but in the case of Ahmednuggur no such reason can be assigned. It may be that the higher
part of the hill-range encircling Seroor attracts much more of the rain cloud, than would the
depressed basin in which the cantonment is situated ; the absence too of trees and vegetation
here would also have an effect, in this as in other parts of the country. The rains continued
from June to October ; the number of rainy days is fewer than in the year preceding, which
modified the climate in the rains. October and November were hot and very oppressive,
in December it became much colder; this difference in temperature is chiefly confined to
the night and early morning. The past December is the only indication of a cold season which.
has been experienced in this part of the Deccan for many years. In the early part of the year
the hot winds began and continued until June, when the rains began; this caused a very pro
-tracted hot season, December and January being in the preceding distinctly hot and oppres
-sive although hot winds had not set in thus early. The temperature of December 1870 is
less by 13º in the morning in the hospital verandah than was the temperature of 1869 in the
same month, the thermometer being placed in each instance under similar conditions. In the
hospital, however, at 4 P.M, the temperature is only two degrees less in December 1870
than at the same of 1869 ; for the whole year the thermometer shows a lower temperature for 1870
than for 1869. The climate of Seroor is pleasant and healthy, we have the benefit of the
S. W. and N. E. monsoons which blow steadily; there are at times intervals of oppressive calm,
during and after the S. W. monsoon. During the S. W. monsoon there is often a lull from
6 to 9 P.M., after this again a steady breeze sets in which continues throughout the night,
so that in the hot season a hot night is seldom experienced; but in October and November
for days even an oppressive lull continues, and the atmosphere is oppressive and stagnant.
At the same time the autumn sun is hot and unmodified by cloud and unsubdued by vegeta
-tion (green), so that the direct and reflected ray of the sun make its influence greater, and
thus the autumn is perhaps justly considered the most oppressive season in the Deccan. The
hot and rainy seasons are the most healthy periods of the year in this part of the Deccan, and
during the past year, I have not traced a single case of any severity which could be fairly
attributed to the influence of the climate of Seroor. Slight ailments as diarrhœa and rheuma
-tism and febris intermittent and febricula do occur excited by cold and damp, but in most
instances, the attack is rather owing to imprudence of the individual, than due to the endemic
morbific influence of the climate. If I might venture to give an opinion of the cold season
from my experience of the past month, I should say that the climate was agreeable, bracing
and invigorating, provided it continued unchanged for a sufficiently long period; but a sud
-den return to a higher temperature, such as usually obtains in these parts, would be destruc-