under cultivation this will doubtless meet with a proportionate diminution, as has been the case in other tropical countries.

Even on the hottest part of this coast, the heat is never oppressive while the trade wind is blowing, but during calms it is very sultry. The climate, however, is anything but unhealthful. The prevailing type of disease appears to be a low form of intermittent fever, mild in its character, and yielding readily to simple remedies. In the majority of cases, where foreigners suffer from it, the cause may be traced to their own imprudence and careless habits of life. With ordinary attention to hygienic laws, and temperance in eating and drinking, there is no reason why any person of good constitution should not enjoy as good health in Nicaragua as in any other part of the world.

A naval officer, who has written on the subject, states that he once_commanded a ship of war, with a large crew, that was stationed on the coast for five months, during which time he never had more than four men on the sick list, and not a single death occurred. .

The following notes, taken during a more extended residence on this coast, by the same officer, will afford a good idea of the climate and its variations:

January. Strong breezes from northeast; dry weather; occasional showers, principally during the night.

February.-Squally weather, wind changing from north to east in sudden gusts. This month is sometimes showery, but wind never shifts beyond north

or east.

March. Strong breezes from east northeast. Generally, about the 20th, an equinoctial gale may be expected, which generally lasts about three days, with heavy rain, and violent winds from north to northwest. Otherwise, March is a dry month.

April.-Light southeast and south winds, with calms. No rain. Rivers low and lagoons shallow.

May.-Calms; dry weather; winds very light and variable.

June.—Heavy rains, with much thunder and lightning; generally calm, but subject to squalls and sudden gusts of wind.

Bull. 51-2

July.-The same as June, but varied by strong steady breezes from east

northeast to northeast.

August. The same as the two preceding months, with the addition of heavy squalls of short duration.

September.-Calms and light variable winds, thunder and lightning, with

occasional rains.

October.-Northers commence in this month; generally, about the 15th, heavy northerly gales may be expected, with rain and squalls. These may be looked for occasionally between October and January. During a wet norther the weather is chilly and unpleasant, but should it be dry, it is both healthy and invigorating.

November. Similar weather; plenty of rain. Sometimes the trade wind blows uninterruptedly, and the entire month passes without a norther.

December.-Passing showers, the trade wind blowing strongly, occasionally interrupted by northers.

January, February, March, and April are considered the most healthful months of the year. March and April are the hottest. The thermometer seldom rises above 85° or falls below 70°.

A report published by the Nicaragua Canal Company gives some interesting details as to the healthfulness of the country. It says: "No better proof of the healthfulness of the country can be asked than the practical experience of the men who have been employed in surveys of the route and on actual work of construction thus far accomplished. The surveys were made through dense forests and jungle, where every foot of advance was gained by the use of the ax or machete, and through swamps and streams where the men were often compelled to do their work up to their waists in water. In December, 1887, the engineering expedition under the charge of Mr. Peary, consisting of some forty-five surveyors, including their assistants, and accompanied by about one hundred negroes from Jamaica, landed at Greytown and commenced work. Peary says that, excepting the negroes only five members of the expedition had ever been in tropical climates before, and the rodmen and chainmen of the party were young men just out of college, who had never done a day's work nor slept on the ground a

night in their lives. The rainy season prevailed more than a month beyond the usual period, during which time and for months afterward all the members of the party, engineers and laborers alike, were equally exposed in their tents and in the forests, working sometimes on land, sometimes in the streams and swamps, to all the vicissitudes of the climate. Yet, notwithstanding all this exposure, not only were there no deaths on the expedition, but there was not a single case of serious illness; and those who, at the expiration of their contract, returned to the United States came back in better health and weight than when they went away. Of course, the men were well fed and sanitary rules were strictly enforced, but the results proved the natural salubrity of the climate."

The annual report, for the year 1890, of Dr. J. E. Stubbert, surgeon in chief to the Nicaragua Canal Company, shows the same remarkable immunity from disease and sickness among the employés. The following is the meteorological report of observations taken at the company's headquarters at San Juan del Sur for the year ending December 31, 1890:

In the more elevated regions and on the Pacific slope, the temperature is also very equable, differing a little according to locality,

but preserving a nearly uniform range, during the wet season, of from 75° to 88° F., occasionally sinking to 70° during the night and rising to 90° in the afternoon. During the dry season, the average temperature is less, for although it ranges from 80° to 90° during the day, it falls frequently to 65° or 68° during the night. The sky is cloudless, the fields become parched and dry, and the effect of this season is practically that of a northern winter, checking and destroying ephemeral vegetation, thereby purifying the atmosphere and rendering it the healthiest part of the year. In all the elevated regions of Nicaragua, no sense of oppression or exhaustion is felt, even on the hottest day. The air is so pure and fresh and the radiation of heat so rapid that, even when the direct rays of the sun may be felt to be intolerable, the temperature is pleasant and refreshing in the shade, forming a great contrast in this respect to northern cities, where, at times, it is impossible to escape from the exhausting heat, either in the house or even during the night.

Observations taken during one year at the town of Rivas gave the following results: Mean highest temperature 86° F., mean lowest 71°; mean average for the year 77°, mean range 15°. The amount of rain which fell from May to November, inclusive, was 90.3 inches; from December to April, inclusive, 7.41 inches; total for the year, 97.44 inches. Hail is almost unknown in Nicaragua, as are also frost and snow, and none of the mountains or volcanic peaks are high enough to be liable to a perpetual or even an occasional covering of snow. Cyclones, hurricanes, and destructive storms, which at certain seasons are so devastating in other countries, never reach this favored land. It is a remarkable fact that in Nicaragua, although the barometer varies in one place or the other according to the altitude, as is natural, in any fixed spot the variation throughout the year is almost inappreciable, so much so as to render it almost useless as an indicator of atmospheric disturbance or changes of weather. This proves that the atmosphere