Part 8

THIRD QUARTER.--The temperature of the quarter ending September 30th is 0°·37 _below_ the average, and the complement of the dew-point, as compared with the two previous years, is 0°·5 _below_ the mean. The depth of rain is 0·36 inch under the average quantity, which is 12·42 inches. The deaths in the third quarter of 1849, in the town and suburb, are 168, or 47 above the corrected average number; and, except in 1846, a greater number than has occurred in any September quarter since the register was begun in 1839. In the September quarter of the last four years, the deaths are as under: 1846, 255; 1847, 148; 1848, 142; and 1849, 168. The births exceed the deaths by six in number. During this quarter we had a few cases of Asiatic cholera in this town, chiefly in the month of September; and at the adjacent seaport of Workington the disease was of a most malignant character, and exceedingly fatal. The total number of deaths from the commencement of the epidemic on the 13th of August, till it entirely ceased on the 6th of November, was 172. In 1841, the population was 6041, which gives a mortality of 2·8 per cent., or one death in every 35 persons, from cholera. It is, however, believed that the population of Workington has decreased since the last census was taken; and at the time the epidemic was raging, most of the respectable inhabitants had left the place; so that the ratio of mortality amongst the then residents must have been considerably greater than is here stated. A singular fact connected with the disease is its sudden cessation for several days, at the expiration of which it returns with increased virulence. In the week between the 25th and 31st of August, the deaths were 65; from the 31st August to the 8th September there were none; on the 8th, 12; 9th and 10th, none; on the 11th, 13; and on the 12th only one death; 13th, 11; from the 14th to the 19th inclusive, the deaths averaged 2·5 daily, but on the 20th they rose to 13; and between the 21st and the end of September there were only eight deaths, which occurred on the 21st, 22d, 25th, and 27th.

Between the 1st and 20th of October the deaths were 32, and during that period there were frequently none for three or four consecutive days. There was only one death after the 20th October. It occurred on the 6th of November, when the pestilence ceased. I am informed by a resident medical gentleman, that at the commencement of the disease the cases were rapidly fatal, many of them after eight or ten hours' illness, and it was then almost entirely confined to the lower classes.

The proximate cause of the exceedingly fatal character of the disease at this seaport is probably to be found in the effluvia engendered by the extensive tract of marshy land, called the "Cloffocks," adjoining the river Derwent, and in the immediate vicinity of the town. What is most remarkable, the first case of cholera at Workington occurred on the same day of the same month, in the same house, and even in the same room in the said house, where the epidemic first broke out in the summer of 1832. There is no peculiarity in the situation of the house, nor can any reason be assigned for this most singular coincidence. I am informed that very few insects were seen about the river, and, during the height of the disease, the rooks entirely forsook their old-established quarters in the grounds adjoining the Hall.[29]

Footnote 29: The cause of this fearful epidemic is still a mystery. The meteorological conditions of the atmosphere, although slightly abnormal, are wholly inadequate to account for its induction. It is most probably induced by some gaseous poison diffused through the atmosphere, but of a nature so subtle that the most delicate analysis fails to detect its presence. According to the experiments of Dr Dundas Thompson of Glasgow, no solid matter existed in the air, but ammonia was obtained from it in the proportion of 0·319 grain of caustic ammonia, or 0·731 grain of carbonate of ammonia, to 1000 pounds of air.

_October._--Cold, with an average fall of rain (5¼ inches.) The mean temperature is 2°·5 _below_ the average. The grain crops were above an average in point of quantity, and they were got under cover in excellent condition. Garden fruit, as pears, apples, &c., were not so plentiful as usual. On the evening of the 28th, that rare phenomenon a lunar rainbow, was seen from the grounds at Tarn Bank, near Cockermouth, by Isaac Fletcher, Esq., to whom I am indebted for the following description of it:--

In the early part of the evening the sky was clear, but at 8h 30m a dense mist rose from the river Derwent and entirely overspread a large segment of the northern horizon; whilst to the south, the atmosphere continued comparatively clear, the moon, within four days of full, shining brightly near the meridian. About 9h 10m, there was a faint luminous arch in the north, which was evidently a lunar rainbow, or rather a fog-bow, for no rain whatever was visible at the time. The light reflected by the arch was white, and perfectly free from prismatic colour. Its breadth was considerable, perhaps 4° or 5°, and its centre or highest part, passed close under the star beta Ursæ Majoris, so that the extreme altitude of the arch was probably about 18° or 20°. The edges were not sharply defined, but gradually shaded off. It was noticed that the denser the fog became, the more apparent was the arch, and _vice versa_, so that the phenomenon could not have been of an auroral character. The phenomenon was watched for ten or fifteen minutes, when the gradual dispersion of the fog, by destroying the refracting medium, put an end to this interesting appearance.

_November._--As usual, a very dull, damp month, with but little difference between the temperature of the days and nights. Temperature 1°·20 _above_ the average.

Early on the morning of the 2d, a swallow was seen on the wing in the immediate vicinity of this town. The maximum temperature of the day was 55°. Between the 9th and 12th inclusive, the extremes of day and night temperature only varied 2 degrees.

_December._--A fine dry month with occasional frosty nights. Temperature 2°·15, and rain 2·19 inches _below_ the average. Two loud peals of thunder and much lightning on the night of the 14th.

The remarkable meteor observed at Edinburgh on the evening of the 19th, and minutely described by Professor Forbes who witnessed it, was also seen at Whitehaven under the same circumstances and at the same time.

LAST QUARTER.--The mean temperature of the last quarter of 1849 is 1°·15 _below_ the average, and the complement of the dew-point is 0°·87 _below_ the mean of the two preceding years. The average depth of rain for the quarter is 14·64 inches; in 1849 the quarterly fall is 12·62 inches, or 2·02 inches _under_ the normal quantity. The deaths in this quarter, in the town and suburbs, are 131, being 4 _below_ the average number.

It is pleasant to have to announce a favourable change in the sanitary condition of this town, and to record the termination of an excessive mortality, which uninterruptedly prevailed for a period of two years and a half; for this is the only quarterly period wherein the deaths have not exceeded the average since March 1846.

In the corresponding quarters of 1846, 1847, and 1848, the deaths were 215, 161, and 176 respectively. The births exceed the deaths by 34.

THE AURORA BOREALIS.--There have been seven exhibitions of the aurora borealis during the year 1849, two of which were sufficiently remarkable to merit something more than a passing notice.

The first occurred on the evening of January 14th. At 10 P.M., a well-defined auroral arch, about 5° in width, extended from NNE. to W., its highest part reaching nearly to Arided in Cygnus. At 11h there was one complete arch, and segments of two other arches, all brilliant, crossing each other in the NW., and throwing off intensely bright streamers, some of which reached the altitude of the Pointers. The aurora was now exceedingly beautiful, and emitted considerable light. The streamers appeared to have a duplex lateral motion, running along the upper edge of the arch from west to north, and then backwards from north to west. The clear sky beneath the arches was almost black, from contrast. At 11h 30m the arches had broken up, and the streamers appeared to emanate from the horizon.

_February 18._--At 9 P.M. there was a brilliant band of auroral light in the east about 6° in width, which shot upwards towards the zenith, throwing off short lateral streamers. At times, a complete arch of varying width extended from the eastern to the western horizon; at others, it was broken up into two or more detached portions. At 9h 45m, a magnificent rainbow-like arch about 2° in width, spanned the heavens from ENE. to WSW. The altitude of the centre was apparently about 75°; the lower edge, at or near the highest point of the arch, was bounded by the star Castor. The arch was beautifully defined, and of perfectly even width throughout its entire extent; it disappeared in a few minutes after my attention was called to it, and soon after the sky became overcast. But for the absence of the moon, it might easily have been mistaken for a lunar rainbow. A precisely similar arch made its appearance here on the evening of the 21st of March 1833, and as far as my observation goes, these perfect rainbow-like arches are of exceedingly rare occurrence.

The following phenomenon though unconnected with auroræ, is probably of electric origin; and, as an unusual atmospheric appearance, is worthy of being placed on record:--_September 16._--The sky was mostly overcast throughout the day, except a segment extending from WSW. to ENE., which was bright and clear to an altitude of about 15°. The upper boundary of the clear blue space was an elliptical segment formed by a sheet of white cloud, which was partially illuminated towards the western extremity, and somewhat resembled an auroral arch. I first noticed this blue arch about 3 P.M., and from that time until it disappeared, about six o'clock, there was not the slightest apparent change, either in its altitude or position. It was observed as early as 7 o'clock in the morning, when it was, nearer to the horizon.

GENERAL REMARKS.--The year 1849 is the driest we have had since 1844; the fall of rain (39 inches) is 7·9 inches under the average annual depth, which is 47 inches nearly. From some cause, the annual quantity of rain at this place is evidently on the decrease, and the diminution is, I believe, general all over the north of England. Probably the large amount of moor and waste marshy land brought into cultivation of late years, and the more efficient drainage of the country generally, by diminishing the evaporating surface, and so interfering with that invisible process of nature which is the source of every kind of atmospheric deposition, may have led to this and other changes which appear to have occurred in the climate of England within the last half century. In the first seven years (1833-39) after I began to keep a meteorological record, the average annual depth of rain was 49·93 inches, or 50 inches nearly; in the last seven years, ending with 1848, the average is reduced to 43·74 inches. The greatest quantity in the last 17 years is 59 inches, in 1836; the least, 34·69 inches in 1842. The three driest years in the period are 1842, 1844, and 1849, which yielded 34·69 inches, 36·72 inches, and 39 inches.

The temperature of the past year (48°·69) is about half a degree _below_ the climatic mean, which is 49°·02. The coldest year of the last 17 was 1845, and the mildest, 1846; the mean temperatures of these years were 47°·49 and 50°·85 respectively.

The naked thermometer on the grass, placed on raw wool, has been at or below the freezing point in every month of 1849; viz., in January, on 19 nights; in February, on 14; in March, on 13; in April, on 18; in May, on 11; in June, on 8; in July, on 1; in August, on 2; in September, on 5; in October, on 16; in November, on 13; and in December, on 24 nights. The amount of radiant heat thrown off from the earth's crust at night, in the year 1849, as indicated by naked thermometers placed on raw wool and on grass, is much greater than usual. The evaporation exceeds the fall of rain in five months of 1849; viz., in March, April, May, June, and September. In 1849, we have had 12 perfectly clear days; 163 days more or less cloudy but without rain; 190 wet days; 261 days on which the sun shone out; 33 days of frost; 13 of hail; 7 of snow; 10 of thunder and lightning; and 7 days in which lightning occurred without thunder. There have also been three lunar halos, one lunar rainbow, a double parhelion, and seven appearances of the aurora borealis.

The clear days are 14, the days of sunshine are 13, and the wet days are 8 _less_ than the average number. The past year has therefore afforded a smaller share of blue sky and a less amount of sunshine than usual, although the depth of rain and the number of wet days are both _below_ the average for the locality.

The quantity of electricity in the air was extremely small down to the end of July, after which it was restored to its average amount.

This fact is strikingly exhibited by the following table of continuous observations taken by M. Quetelet with Peltier's electrometer:--

Average Mean 1844-1848. 1849. ° ° January, 53 39 February, 47 36 March, 38 27 April, 27 20 May, 21 16 June, 18 13 July, 19 14 August, 21 21 September, 24 24

In 1849, the deaths exceed the calculated average number by 79, and the births exceed the deaths by 74.

In the seven years ending with 1845, the mean annual number of deaths in the town and suburb, with an assumed population of 17,867, is 410, being 22·9 per thousand, or one death in every 43·5 persons. In 1846, 1847, and 1848 (assumed average population 18,329), the mean annual number is 694, being 37·8 deaths per thousand, or 1 in every 26·4 persons in those three most unhealthy years. In 1849 the deaths are 606, which, assuming the population to be the same as in 1848, give 32·2 deaths per 1000, or 1 death in every 31 persons. The average annual number of deaths in the ten years 1839-48 is 495, which, with an assumed population of 17,713, gives 27·9 per 1000, or 1 death in every 35·7 inhabitants.

So that the mortality in 1849, although still above the average, shews a marked improvement in the health of the town as compared with any of the three preceding years; and, in the last quarter, the deaths are below the average for the period.

THE OBSERVATORY, WHITEHAVEN, _13th March 1850_.

_The Completed Coral Island._ By JAMES D. DANA, Geologist to the American Exploratory Expedition, &c., &c.

The Coral Island, in its best condition, is but a miserable residence for man. There is poetry in every feature; but the natives find this a poor substitute for the bread-fruit and yams of more favoured lands. The cocoa-nut and pandanus are, in general, the only products of the vegetable kingdom afforded for their sustenance, and fish and crabs from the reef their only animal food. Scanty, too, is the supply; and infanticide is resorted to in self-defence, where but a few years would otherwise overstock the half-dozen square miles of which their little world consists.

Yet there are more comforts than might be expected on a land of so limited extent, without rivers, without hills, in the midst of salt water, with the most elevated point but ten feet above high tide, and no part more than 300 yards from the ocean. Though the soil is light and the surface often strewed with blocks of coral, there is a dense covering of vegetation to shade the native villages from a tropical sun. The cocoa-nut--the tree of a thousand uses--grows luxuriantly on the coral-made land, after it has emerged from the ocean; and the scanty dresses of the natives, their drinking-vessels and other utensils, mats, cordage, fishing-lines, and oil, besides food, drink, and building material, are all supplied from it. The_ Pandanus_, or screw-pine, flourishes well, and is exactly fitted for such regions: as it enlarges and spreads its branches, one prop after another grows out from the trunk and plants itself in the ground; and by this means its base is widened and the growing tree supported. The fruit, a large ovoidal mass, made up of oblong dry seed, diverging from a centre, each near two cubic inches in size, affords a sweetish-husky article of food, which, though little better than prepared corn-stalks, admits of being stored away for use when other things fail. The extensive reefs abound in fish which are easily captured; and the natives, with wooden hooks, often bring in larger kinds from the deep waters. From such resources a population of 10,000 persons is supported on the single Island of Taputeouea, whose whole habitable area does not exceed six square miles.[30]

Footnote 30: There are a few islands better supplied with vegetable food, though the above statements are literally true of a large majority.

Water is usually to be found in sufficient quantities for the use of the natives, although the land is so low and flat. They dig wells five to ten feet deep in any part of the dry islets, and generally obtain a constant supply. These wells are sometimes fenced around with special care; and the houses of the villages, as at Fakaafo, are often clustered about them. On Aratica (Carlshoff) there is a watering-place 50 feet in diameter, from which our vessels in a few hours obtained 390 gallons. The Tarawan Islands are generally provided with a supply sufficient for bathing, and each native takes his morning bath in fresh water, esteemed by them a great luxury.

The only source of this water is the rains, which, percolating through the loose surface, settle upon the hardened coral rock that forms the basis of the island. As the soil is white, or nearly so, it receives heat but slowly, and there is consequently but little evaporation of the water that is once absorbed.

These islands, moreover, enclose ports of great extent, many admitting even the largest class of vessels; and the same lagoons are the pearl fisheries of the Pacific.

An occasional log drifts to their shores; and at some of the more isolated atolls, where the natives are ignorant of any land but the spot they inhabit; they are deemed direct gifts from a propitiated deity. These drift-logs were noticed by Kotzebue, at the Marshall Islands, and he remarked also that they often brought stones in their roots. Similar facts were observed by us at the Tarawan group, and also at Enderby's Island, and elsewhere.

The stones at the Tarawan Islands, as far as we could learn, are generally basaltic, and they are highly valued for whetstones, pestles, and hatchets. The logs are claimed by the chiefs for canoes. Some of the logs on Enderby's Island were forty feet long, and four in diameter.

Fragments of pumice and resin are transported by the waves to the Tarawan Islands. We were informed that the pumice was gathered from the shores by the women, and pounded up to fertilize the soil of their taro patches; and it is so common, that one woman will pick up a peck in a day. Pumice was also met with at Fakaafo. Volcanic ashes are sometimes distributed over these islands, through the atmosphere; and in this manner the soil of the Tonga Islands is improved, and in some places it has received a reddish colour.

The officers of the "Vincennes" observed several large masses of compact and cellular basalt on Rose Island, a few degrees east of Samoa: they lie two hundred yards inside of the line of breakers. The island is uninhabited, and the origin of the stories is doubtful; they may have been brought there by roots of trees, or perhaps by some canoe.

Notwithstanding the great number of coral islands in the Paumotu Archipelago, the botanist finds there, as Dr Pickering informs me, only twenty-eight or twenty-nine native species of plants. The following are the most common of them: _Portulacca_, two species; _Scævola Konigii_. _Pisonia?_ one species; _Tournefortia sericea_; _Pandanus odoratissimus_; _Lepidium_, one species; _Euphorbia_, one species; _Morinda citrifolia_; _Boerhavia_, two species; _Cassytha_, one species; _Heliotropium prostratum_, _Pemphis acidula_, _Guettarda speciosa_, _Triumphetta procumbens_, _Sauriana maritima_; _Convolvulus_, one species; _Urtica_, one or two species; _Asplenium nidus_; _Achyranthus_, one species; a species of grass. One or two rubiaceous shrubs. _Polypodium_.

On Rose Island, Dr Pickering found only the _Pisonia_ and a _Portulacca_. The _Triumphetta procumbens_, a creeping plant, takes root, like the _Portulacca_, in the most barren sands, and is very common. The _Tournefortia_ and _Scævola_ are also among the earliest species. The _Pisonia_, a tree of handsome foliage, the _Pandanus_, or screw-pine, and the cocoa-nut (always an introduced species), constitute the larger part of the forests. In the Marshall group, where the vegetation is more varied, Chamisso observed fifty-two native plants, and, in a few instances, the banana, taro, and bread-fruit.

The language of the natives indicates their poverty, as well as the limited productions and unvarying features of the land. All words, like those for mountain, hill, river, and many of the implements of their ancestors, as well as the trees and other vegetation of the land from which they are derived, are lost to them; and as words are but signs for ideas, they have fallen off in general intelligence. It would be an interesting inquiry for the philosopher, to what extent a race of men, placed in such circumstances, are capable of mental improvement. Perhaps the query might be best answered by another: How many of the various arts of civilized life could exist in a land where shells are the only cutting instruments? The plants, in all but twenty-nine in number,--but a single mineral,--quadrupeds, none, with the exception of foreign mice,--fresh water barely enough for household purposes,--no streams, nor mountains, nor hills! How much of the poetry or literature of Europe would be intelligible to persons whose ideas had expanded only to the limits of a coral island,--who had never conceived of a surface of land above half a mile in breadth, of a slope higher than a beach, of a change of seasons beyond a variation in the prevalence of rains? What elevation in morals should be expected upon a contracted islet, so readily overpeopled that threatened starvation drives to infanticide, and tends to cultivate the extremest selfishness? Assuredly, there is not a more unfavourable spot for moral or intellectual development in the wide world than the Coral Island, with all its beauty of grove and lake.

These islands are exposed to earthquakes and storms, like the continents, and occasionally a devastating wave sweeps across the land. During the heavier gales the natives sometimes secure their houses by tying them to the cocoa-nut trees, or to a stake planted for the purpose. A height of ten or twelve feet, the elevation of their land, is easily overtopped by the more violent seas; and great damage is sometimes experienced. The still more extensive earthquake waves, such as those which have swept up the coast of Spain, Peru, and the Sandwich Islands, would produce a complete deluge over these islands.--(_United States' Exploring Expedition.--Geology._--_By James Dana_, p. 75.)

_Biographical Notice of Leopold Pilla, the Geologist._ By H. COQUAND.[31] Communicated by the Author.