between the north and south are the zephyr, and the subsolanus, termed Ponente and Levante. The former is

warm in spring, causing winter to be forgotten, cool in summer, and tempering the heats of the dog-days. The wind which comes nearest to the zephyr is the northwest (the mistral of the south of France), designated by the name of Maestro in the peninsula. The north (tramontana) produces a low temperature, and great dryness of the air, clearing the sky, and bringing fine weather, though in winter it is frequently accompanied with snow and hail. The bracing wind, par excellence, and the best antidote against the enervating effects of the sirocco, the north-east, blows at times with violence throughout the whole extent of the peninsula, generally with dry weather, though sometimes with humidity."

This occasional apparently contradictory effect of particular winds, appears to be satisfactorily accounted for by Dr. Thouvenel, who remarked: "In the different regions of Italy, each season has its predominating winds, which, notwithstanding the accidental changes that supervene in the weather, generally preserve their ascendency, and their regular type. But the winds of each season are not the same in the southern as in the northern portion of Italy. In the latter, the north and its collaterals sensibly predominate from autumn to spring, and, in the former, from spring to autumn it is the southern winds which predominate; but in both regions it is difficult not to confound the reflected with the direct winds-those of the inferior with those of the superior region. The former evidently proceed from the latter, and from their combination are generally derived the reflected winds.

"On account of this reflex action, or repercussion, of the winds blowing against the Alps from all the points of this mountainous and sinuous barrier, curved towards northern Italy, it has been thought that the north, with its two

collateral winds, prevailed during more, by twice the number of days, than all the five others together. This also affords an explanation of the apparent contradiction, the manifest opposition, with respect to the formation of rain and clouds; viz., that the high and dry north winds, passing over arid and mountainous regions before reaching Italy, bring with them thick clouds, which generally yield heavy rains; whereas the low and humid southern winds, surcharged with clouds and vapours from their passage across the sea, watery plains, and shores, are not so apt to bring rain; but it must be remarked, that these winds from the southern hemisphere, which do not immediately occasion rain, are almost always its precursor in Lombardy, whence it is to be considered that the most stormy and rainy winds, which are the north-east and north-west, greco e maestro, are no other than the sirocco and lebèche reflected.* The same may be said of the Ponente and the Levante, both reflected as much by the chain of the Alps as by that of the Apennines."

These observations would seem to refer more particularly to the plains of northern Italy; but, as regards the central and southern portions, the remarks of M. Carrière accord with the general experience of ancient and modern times. “The summer winds blowing from the sea produce humidity, but the winter winds coming from the continent dry the air, and restore its transparency. Thus, there is a good reason why the day should be fine in summer as well as in winter, in which respect the Italian peninsula has advantages over other countries situated more to the south. In Africa, for instance, the south is a dry wind, and the north winds are humid; hence a twofold condition, producing burning summers and cloudy winters. In

The Libeccio or African wind brings clouds. It differs from the sirocco and from the south wind, inasmuch as it generally blows with violence.

Judea, the zephyr, which is soft and refreshing on the shores of Italy, is a rainy wind.* In fact, the west wind has to traverse the whole breadth of the Mediterranean before it reaches the shores of the east.

"The western zone of Italy has an exposure to the west and the south, comprising the great arch of the Mediterranean; and the shore of the Ionian sea is especially exposed to the winds characterised by heat and humidity. This district is generally favourable to those physiological conditions which require a calm air, impregnated with warm vapours. The eastern zone, comprising the Milanese and part of the territory bordering upon the Adriatic, is principally exposed to the dry north and north-east winds, and is good for those organizations which are rather invigorated than exhausted by the influence of an atmosphere relatively cold, dry, and agitated. There are, however, numerous exceptions to this rule, such as the hygrometrical state of the Milanese, &c.

"Maritime climates," continues this author, "are milder than continental (inland) ones. This mildness, which depends upon the hygrometrical state of the air, and the uniformity of the sea's temperature, bears a relation to the windings of the coast, or, in other words, to their absolute development; in proportion as the shore presents this character, so much the more do the extremes of temperature approximate: the less cold the winter, the less hot will be the summer. There are in Europe two regions thus favoured; the British Isles, and Italy from Tuscany to Calabria, The former owes to the above-mentioned condition a mean winter temperature, which, even at 62 degrees of latitude, has never descended below zero. The latter is indebted to the same cause; at all events, in great

When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.-Luke xii. 54, 55.

measure, for its elevated winter mean." The same may be said of the Mediterranean coast, extending from the Estrelles to Tuscany.

The great variations in the range of temperature, not only from day to day, but even in the course of the same day, in some parts of Italy, have been already referred to; those occurring with respect to the relative dryness and humidity of particular situations, are equally extensive, and to be guarded against both by valetudinarians and healthy visiters, who are too apt to neglect the necessary precautions taken by the natives. It is not unfrequently seen in the same street or square, that on the side where the sun has not penetrated, or after it has ceased to shine, the walls of houses, and the street pavement, are wet or damp even in the most serene weather, at the same time when, at the distance of a few feet on the sunny side, there is extreme dryness. In general, in selecting a residence, the southern and eastern exposures are to be preferred as the most salubrious; but in all cases where there is the slightest impaludation of the earth or of the air, a southern exposure should be avoided, as the siroccal winds greatly multiply the causes of insalubrity: and of the two inconveniences, where they cannot be avoided, it is better to suffer from the penetrating influences of a northern ventilation, than to risk the consequences attendant upon the inhalation of a malarious atmosphere.

II-ON THE REMEDIAL ADAPTATION OF CLIMATE.

FROM the preceding observations respecting the general influence of climate, and the peculiarities which characterise that of Italy, may perhaps be deduced inferences tending to the more correct adaptation of this powerful curative agent, the sphere of which has been hitherto too exclusively restricted to diseases of the respiratory apparatus, but which may be no less advantageously extended to a large proportion of chronic local ailments, and disordered conditions of the general health, which not unfrequently precede the invasion of local disease; for it is not merely the breathing a warm or cold air, a dry or a damp one, but likewise the action of states of the atmosphere upon the surface of the body, and consecutively upon internal organs (which has already been partially referred to), that requires to be considered. Every medical man is aware of the close sympathetic relations existing between the skin and internal parts, especially the mucous membranes and the thoracic and abdominal viscera, of which the bronchial, pulmonie, or enteritic irritations and inflammations, induced by a chill, exposure to wet, &c., are familiar examples. In winter it is well known that there is a corresponding diminution in the amount of the insensible perspiration, with a greater increase of bronchial and renal secretion; whereas in summer the reverse occurs, and we are more inclined to be thirsty, on account of the increased excretion from the skin. When, therefore, we consider the coldness, variableness, and humidity of the climates of Great Britain