The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-06-24
Of silence to what one might well call deco
rative art NJ. Scrivanow is the inventor.
rniIs,,n, Places

Climate is the most i'm portant single factor
in the environment Of ones dwelling place:
but we cannot all choose our climate The
most important single element in it we can
have with fair accuracy, with respect 10 any
given place, by noting the temperature of
the perennial springs. which gives nearly
the average temperature of the year. This,
and note OF the dates when flowers blossom
and fruits ripen, will give a better idea Of
the climate Of place than you are likely 10
get from a table of figures.
The temperature of given region is, how
ever, generally that Of a large adjacent
country, and therefore it IS not thing to be
selected quite at viii by many Those who
can choose viii often choose foreign climate.
while, for better or for worse most OF US
must accept the conditions of heat or cold
which are common 10 vast area, for the
climate of the entire eastern and central
states is essentially the same thing. But the
choice Of other conditions as winds, expo
sure, rainfall, adjacent regions, elevation.
may frequently be made within much mar
rover limits.
Winds-World over, the prevailing winds
in the temperate zone are westerly. In west
ern European countries the exposure Of the
house should be preferable TO the quarter
whence come the driest winds; but that Is
less an object in our dry climate
Air coming from over the sea is generally
moister than that coming over land, and 1t
is free from malaria For some distances
from the shore it contains salt, but in such
very small quantity as not to be medicinal.
People sometimes speak Of the sea air as be-
ing too strong for them. The phrase Is
meaningless: what they intend to say IS that
it is too cool and moist.
Change of air. Is another commonly-used
phrase of little meaning. As DIR. Frank
| Hamilton SAYS. "a change of air is Of less
value than a change of scene, unless it be a
change from an impure to a pure air. The
air Is changed every time the direction Of
the wind is changed
The higher the elevation the purer the air,
1 as a rule: but to this there are exceptions.
/ A valley may be the conduit of malarious
| disease. 4 house is built at the head Of 6
| ravine, thousands Of feet above the sea-level,
/ and the occupants feel perfectly safe from
/ any air-borne malady. Yet during tbs
summer time they may be stricken dow
with malaria. or, as happened at Newcastle
| Jamaica, in 1856 and 1851, with yellow fever
! How may this happen. The ravine below
| the buildings, filed with decaying vegeta
| ton, acted as a funnel or upward shoot fol
the ascending current of air, which carried
above sea-level At a moderate distanc
from the head of the raYine those building
would have been safe.
The same risk il run when the wind blow
from marshy ground, even though it may b
distant. A striking instance of this &C
CURED III Bona, Algeria
Bona stands on a hill overlooking tn
sea; a plain of a deep rich vegetable sol
extends southwark from it, but little raise
above the sea-!evel. The plain receives no
only the rainfall but the water from az
jacent mountains, and is consequently sal
urated with wet. The population living o
it the hill Of Bona and near it suffered in
tensely from fever. Entire regiments wer
dessstroyed by death and inefiiciency. 1t wa
at last deo~teTmined to dram the plain. TIL
result of this Sy@ork was an immediate re
duction of the sick ami te5eath rate.
Besides drainage, another. protectio
against this wind borne malaria ma, - b
found in a screen of growing wood. This,
indeed will give more safety than position
miles away or thousands of feet high to lee
ward.
The rainfall of the region is question of
practical interest; for, as Douglas Cation
says, ''tAe moisture in the soil depends upon
the amount and the mode of incidence OF
the rainfall. As a rule, rainfall is the
parent Of the ground water