quently and suddenly take place, and affect the feelings of the inhabitants much more than equal, or even greater degrees of permanent cold in countries where the climate is more steady, and the transitions from heat to cold are more gradual.

In February the weather is particularly variable. It is often rainy. Vegetation commences in warin clear days and inspires hopes of an early spring. Suddenly a northwest wind inducing frost, sometimes blasts and always retards these flattering expectations. In March and April the planting season begins and continues till June.

In July and August the heats increase, and the heavy rains set in attended at times with severe thunder and lightning. September is the principal month of harvest. In it the evenings and mornings are chilly, but the sun is extremely oppressive in the middle of the day. Storms of rain are produced, accompanied sometimes with hurricanes. The leaves of deciduous trees begin to fall, and nature by degrees assume the sober dress of winter. In October the weather is generally mild and clear. About the middle of this month frosts commence and generally terminate in the month of March. On their approach they bring with them a cure for fevers, then usually prevalent. The inhabitants of Charlestown keep fires in their houses from four to six months in the year; but there are some warm days in every one of them in which fires are disagreeable. On the other hand there are some moist cool days in every month of the year, with the exception of July and August, in which fires are not only healthy but pleasant. These, with the addition of June, are the only months which are exempt from frost in all years, and in every part of South Carolina.

Sharp cold weather seldom commences before December, though there are several cold days in November, and the evenings and mornings are generally so. In these months, especially the last, vegetation is checked and continues so for about four weeks. In this manner the annual circle revolves in the varying climate of South Carolina. The last half of December and the first half of January is the dullest period of the whole. If the year was to be regulated with a particular reference to Carolina, it might be said to commence about the middle of January, and to terminate about the middle of December; for the one begins and the other ends its visible natural vegetation.

The hygrometer in Charlestown shows an almost constant humidity in the air. For the last seven years it has not marked in any one year more than 24 dry days; and the average of the whole seven years is less than sixteen dry days for each. The variation of the barometer is inconsiderable. It gener

ally stands between 30 and 31, but has been as low as 29° 7' and as high as 31° 8'. The extremes of heat and cold since 1791 have been seventy-six degrees asunder. The subjoined statement* of meterological observations for the year 1802 may serve as a sample of the climate.

The evils that every year take place more or less in the northern States from drinking cold water, are unknown in Charlestown. The water of the wells lies so near the surface of the earth that the difference of its temperature from that of the common air, is not so great as to create danger; unless in very particular circumstances. A solitary case occurred in September, 1791, of a negro fellow who after taking a draught of cold water when very warm, suddenly fainted away and immediately after became insane and continued so for several days; but he afterwards recovered. The medium temperature of the well water in Charlestown is 65°. This is twelve degrees above that of the well-water of Philadelphia.

*Thunder was distinctly, and in few cases very loudly heard on forty-eight days in the interval between April 7, and November 30. Less rain fell in 1802 than in any of the seven preceding years. The particulars will appear from the following table.

1802. Days of rain. Inches. Tenths.

1802. Days of rain. Inches Tenths.

Though there were only sixty-four days in which an actual fall of rain took place, yet the index of the hygrometer pointed to damp in all degrees from one to one hundred and one, for three hundred and fifty-two days. As far as we can rely on this instrument we must admit that there were only thirteen days of a dry atmosphere in the year 1802; these were, in April 2, May 8, June 1, and November 3. The highest degree of dryness pointed out in these days was fifteen. The direction of the winds for the year 1802 may be learnt from the following table.

The latest frost in the spring of 1802 was March the 15th; the earliest in autumn was October 26th, or rather November 1st. The coldest day was February 23d. Thermometer 32. The next coldest day was December 9th, thermometer 33. The greatest and least degrees of heat in each month was as follows:

Greatest. Least.

The following table in which the days are classed, will show the number of warm days in the respective months, in the year 1802, and the degree of heat in each day; but without fractions. The first column states the highest range of

Instead of sudden deaths from cold water in Charlestown, the inhabitants have to lament the same event from the intemperate use of spirituous liquors. The stimulus of ardent

the thermometer in the whole course of the days opposite thereto in the other columns.

JANUARY.

Days.

54

Ther.

72

SEPTEMBER.

...

spirits added to that of excessive heat, drives the blood forcibly on the brain and produces fatal consequences.

The east and northeast winds in winter and spring are very injurious to invalids, especially to those who have weak lungs or who are troubled with rheumatic complaints. In these seasons they bring with them that languor for which they are remarkable in other countries; but in summer, by moderating heat they are both pleasant and wholesome. Their worst effects are to produce catarrhal complaints and colds. Winds from the northwest to the southwest, blowing over large tracts of marsh or swamp, are, in summer season, unfriendly to health. The north and northwest winds in winter, are remarkable for their invigorating effects on the human frame. South winds are healthy in summer, but much less so in winter.

Snow is more common and continues longer in proportion as we recede from the sea-shore. The further we proceed westward till we reach the mountains which divide the western from the eastern waters, the weather is colder in the winter and vegetation later in the spring. In the western parts of the State the days are warmer and the nights are cooler than on the sea-coast. While the inhabitants of Charlestown can scarcely bear to be covered in the hours of sleep with a sheet, they who live in the town of Columbia, one hundred and twenty computed miles, but probably about one hundred in a straight line, to the northwest of it, are not incommoded by a blanket: and this difference is greater as we advance more to the west.

The sum total of rain on an average of five years, viz: from 1738 to 1742 as observed by Dr. Lining, was 48.6 inches in the year; and of ten years, viz: from 1750 to 1759, as observed by Dr. Chalmers, was 41.75 inches in the year. The annual average quantity by the observations of the medical society for the last ten years, or from 1797 to 1807 was 49.3 inches. The greatest quantity in any one of these last ten years was 83.4 inches; this was in the year 1799: and the least was 38.6 in the year 1800. The greatest quantity in any one month of these ten years was 12.9 inches; this was in August 1799. In the course of these ten years, four months passed without any rain, and several in each of which it was less than one inch. The number of rainy days in the last five years, or from 1802 to 1807, gives an average of seventytwo rainy days for each.

South Carolina extends about 200 miles on the sea-coast, and about 300 to the west. The southern boundary and a great part of the northern, runs northwest from the Atlantic ocean. As the air grows colder in a western as well as a

northern direction, the climate is far from being uniform. The western districts, from their high and dry situation and contiguity to the mountains, enjoy a dry, elastic, wholesome atmosphere. The middle country partakes of the advantages of the upper country, and the disadvantages of the lower. The latter being intersected by swamps, bays, and low grounds, the waters spread over the face of the country, and in consequence of heat and stagnation produce mephitic exhalations. Thick fogs cover the low lands throughout the night during the summer months. In the western districts from August until frost, thick fogs also cover the grounds at night, but are dissipated by the rays of the sun. Much exposure to these fogs early in the morning is said to occasion intermittents.

In such a situation it is no matter of surprise that fevers prevail in places contiguous to fresh, and especially stagnant water. The heavy rains generally commence in June and July. While they flow, and until their waters by remaining stagnant have putrefied, the health of the lower country is not particularly affected. But when weeds and vegetables are rankest, and putrefaction is excited by the operations of heat and moisture, the atmosphere becomes deleterious. Like effects being produced by the same causes in Georgia and East Florida, winds from these countries in autumn are much charged with mephitic qualities. Hence south-westardly winds increase all summer fevers. These exciting causes of disease lie dormant in the native state of new countries, while they are undisturbed by cultivation; but when the ground is cleared and its surface broken they are put into immediate activity. Hence it has happened that the upper country of South Carolina was more healthy at its first settlement than it was some time after. When the putrescent materials are expended and the original mephitic effluvia are exhausted and cultivation has improved the face of the earth, it again becomes healthy. Very little if any of South Carolina has attained to this state. The upper country is approximating, and the high hills of Santee come nearer to it than any part of the middle or low country. In like manner mill-dams, when first erected and for many years after, are injurious to the health of the vicinity; but when the timber in them is rotted and their poisonous effluvia are dissipated, they become comparatively harmless.

Observations on the climate of South Carolina have not been made sufficiently long to test by satisfactory evidence any considerable changes which have already taken place. Those made by the Medical Society since 1791, compared with those made by Dr. Lining between 1738 and 1742, and with those made by Doctor Lionel Chalmers between 1750