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

has a uniformity of pressure that is very remarkable, a condition very favorable to the maintenance of good health, and particularly beneficial to the respiratory organs. Earthquakes, to which all volcanic countries are more or less subject have at times been felt on the Pacific slope, but they have never been so violent or destructive as in other countries. The volcanic energy which, in remote ages, has had such a marked influence on the topography of the whole Pacific coast of America, is gradually dying out, and seismic disturbances subside in the same ratio.