‘It seems singular that, directly under the equator, where, through a clear atmosphere, the sun strikes vertically upon the earth, the heat should be less oppressive than in the latitude of New York; this is owing to several causes. The days are but twelve hours long, and the earth does not become so intensely heated as where they are sixteen. The vast surface of water constantly cools the air by its evaporation, and removes the irksome dryness that, in temperate regions, renders a less degree of heat insupportable. And, finally, the constant winds blowing from the sea refresh and invigorate the system.’
He adds that the temperature is so equable, that the climate is peculiarly favourable to health, that no form of epidemic disease is known, and that the average duration of life is probably as high as in New York. The salubrity of the climate,[69] therefore, the fertility of the soil, its mineral riches, and the number and length of its navigable rivers, combine to render the region watered by the Amazon and its tributaries a most eligible field for the emigrant.[70] All that the country wants is increased facilities for commerce and for developing its immense natural resources, and these would be given to it by the opening of the Amazon and immigration.[71]
PHYSICIAN TO THE NORTHERN HOSPITAL, LIVERPOOL; FORMERLY SURGEON TO HER MAJESTY’S 60TH REGIMENT; AND FOR TWENTY-THREE YEARS MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BRITISH HOSPITAL, BAHIA.
Climate of Brazil.—Its salubrity.—Proofs of, causes of, objections to.—Northern, southern, and central provinces. —Equability of temperature.—Heat.—Humidity.—Rain.—Winds.— Electricity.—Hail.—Ice.—Tropical heat and light.—Influence on Europeans.—In health and in disease.—Acclimatization.—Increase of certain diseases.—Others modified.—Insanity.—Yellow fever.—Its probable disappearance.—Ancient writers on the epidemics of Brazil: Rocha Pita, Père Labat, Fereira da Rosa.—Physical, social, and moral condition of the Brazilians.—Habits and religion of the people.—Prophylactic measures.
In a publication like the present, any elaborate disquisition on the climate and people of Brazil would be obviously misplaced, at the same time that a brief notice of these important subjects should not be altogether omitted. The Brazilian empire placed chiefly in the southern hemisphere, extending from 4° 20″ N. lat. to 33° 55″ S., is widely intersected by lakes rivers and mountains, and bounded by the South Atlantic, by the highest mountains, and by the two most magnificent rivers in the world: it enjoys, beyond dispute, one of the finest climates of the globe, and may be fairly designated as ‘the Italy’ of the New World. The heat, intense at Pará on the equator, moderates as we approach the central provinces of the empire, and becomes altogether European on reaching the southern regions of Rio Grande and the Uruguay; whilst the climate of the entire line of coast is tempered by a cool and never-failing breeze. It should however be borne in mind that climate cannot be justly measured by latitude, and that we must, in all instances, take into consideration the position and the elevation of the district, the nature and surface of the soil, and its consequent capacity for the absorption and the radiation of heat. First, then, as regards heat, which may be termed the distinctive element of the climate of Brazil.