The Red Cloud chief., 1874-05-28
Medical Topography Of Nebraska.

We reprint the following as a matter
of general interest. Many persons d.
not know the thorough healthfulness o
our climate and it is a subject that con
Germs all who contemplate making Ne.
braska their home.
DR.. Mercer Of Nebraska, writing or
the Medical Topography of the country
says: The elevation of the land a,
Plattsmouth, on the Missouri river, i.
go feet above low water of the Gulf Of
Mexico, and at Kearney Junction City,
the western terminus of the Burlington
and Missouri River Railway the e!eva.
ton of > ia feet. At Pine Bluffs, on
the western boundary Of the State, the
elevation is 1920 feet. From the south
eastern corner of the State, the elevation
is gradual to the west and north, at the
rate of about 7 feet to the mile. The
soil is made up Of vegetable mould, silica
clay, lime, and occasionally some bi-car-
Donate of soda, and the whole mass con.
stitutes a black loan. The sub-soil con-
sists Of silica, clay, carbonate of lime,
and in the western parts Of the State,
some bi carbonite ofsoda. Soil and sub
soil are porous, and afford perfect drain
age in wet weather. and in dry weather
the soil gains moisture from below, ow-
ing to the porous sub.soil. This comb
nation, and the mechanical properties of
soil and sub-soil, are salutary to health,
and favorable to agriculture. The water
Of the State is clear and above the aver
age in purity. 1t usually holds in SOLD
ton a small per centage of carbonate of
lime, and in the west, in addition, some
b~l-carbonate of soda, Along the Mis-
souri, and other rivers, there are occa
slonal mineral springs containing, in
addition to carbonate of lime and bi-ca.-
Donate of soda, a small per centage Of
sulphur and iodine. The depth at which
good we'll water is reached. varies from
30 to GO feet; but in the Platte and Elk
horn Valleys, it is found at from 10 to
Is feet. On the bluffs sometimes, il is
a hundred feet from the surface. The
spring water occasionally found, is Of
good quality. The fact that the streams
have high banks, rarely, if ever over
flowing , and the naturally under-drained
soil, and the dry. pure atmosphere, rem
der the State comparatively free from
malarIal disease. The average amount
of moisture in the atmosphere is less
than 50 per cent. of that required to sat
urate it. There are no lakes, or large
bodies of water, bounding US on any side.
The temperature has a range of lis de-
grees. December has been the coolest
month, the Thermometer having fallen
to Is degrees below zero, and the hottest
August. when the mercury has reached
LOO degrees in the shade. Both these
extremes. however, are exceptional.
Thunder storms are prevalent from May
to August. The direction Of the wind
varies with the seasons. In the spring,
it is from the south and south west in
the summer, south and south east in
autumn. west and southwest; in winter
north and north west. The extreme
force Of the wind generally is only . fresh
although At times. and particu-
arly during the colder months, it blows
violent gales. from the north and
at the rate Of from 30 to 80
niles an hour. Vegetation is abundant. I.
md the soii produces everything com
non to this latitude but the miasmetic .