Page:Guide through Carlsbad and its environs.djvu/36

 highest of them reaches to a height of 879 feet above the Sprudel, and is called “Das ewige Leben” (Eternal Life).

of these regions is the same as is common to the centre of Germany. The air is pure and healthy, the proof of which is, that up to the present time it has been perfectly free from all contagious diseases, as well as from the cholera and ague. The winds mostly prevailing are from the west and north; the latter has free access through the aperture of the Tepl valley in a northerly direction. The change of temperature, as in all mountainous regions, is sometimes rather sudden, and there is this to be noticed, that after heavy rains, which sometimes last for several days, the ground dries so rapidly, that a few hours after the rain has ceased to fall, the roads on the mountain slopes are perfectly fit for walking. The medium temperature is 5° R. ($43 1/4$° F.), and the medium barometer 27″ $7 1/4$′′′. The vegetation is mostly very rich, and affords abundant selection to the botanist, but is not influenced in any particular way by the mineral springs.

The valley of Carlsbad is formed by the cleft of a mountain range, penetrated by the river Tepl, and consists of fine and coarse-grained granite,