Report on the medical topography and statistics of the Northern, Hyderabad and Nagpore Divisions, the Tenasserim Provinces and the Eastern Settlements.

  • Madras. Medical Board Office.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the medical topography and statistics of the Northern, Hyderabad and Nagpore Divisions, the Tenasserim Provinces and the Eastern Settlements. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    MASULIPATAM. I* considerable, and of late are said to be improving. Ihe manufacture of cotton alone, including weaving, printing, bleaching, washing and dressing of the various kinds of cloth, such as table linen,towels, ginghams, tartans, &c., employs so large a proportion of the inhabitants, of all ages, that it appears to have influenced the character and habits of the people, for no where is a better dressed, or more respectable looking native community to be met with. Indeed frugality among the better classes, most of whom have made their money in trade, seems to be carried to a fault, for according to report, they restrict their charity to the relief of brahmins alone. The poor and indigent, as in all mercantile towns, are however numerous. Climate. The seasons may be divided into the hot, rainy and cold; the first commences in March, and ends about the first week in June ; the second lasts from June, until the end of October, the greatest fall of rain occurring in the south- west monsoon ; the annual average being about 35 inches. The third or cold season commences in November, and terminates about the end of February; at this period the sky is generally clear, with a cold breeze blowing from the north- east, and the mornings are usually cold and bracing. The thermometer ranging from 54° at sun rise, to 70°; and the mean temperature being from 65° to 76°, at noon, during the months of November, December, and January. In February the thermometer ranges from 66° to 84°; in March from 70° to 90°, and in April from 80° to 92°. During the two latter months, which are the most disagreeable throughout the year, the wind is frequently from the south-west, and is of a very relaxing and debilitating character. In May the temperature rises to 96° at noon, and sometimes even as high as 104° ; the hot or land winds setting in pretty regularly, about the 8th or 10th of the month, but the excessive heat, is tempered by the sea breeze, which at this period usually sets in early in the afternoon. These winds in general, continue to blow steadily until towards the end of the month, when dense masses of clouds begin to accumulate in the south-west, and in the evenings north-westers, with thunder showers are frequent;