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 with the sallow complexions and unstrung sinews of those long resident in Bengal.

It is somewhat curious that strangers do not feel the heat so oppressive for the first year after their arrival as they afterwards do, a proof that their constitution becomes enervated; and, on the same principle, an invalid is more overcome by the heat than a man in good health. On the other hand, it is generally believed that Indian residents on returning to England are not so sensitive to the cold as those who have never left their native shores. This has been quaintly explained by supposing a quantity of latent heat, absorbed during their broiling in India,acting as a sort of Promethean fire which,until dissipated, protects them from the cold. Whatever may be the cause, I think I can affirm from personal experience that it is a fact.

Public health is often affected by epidemics without any apparent change in the locality;and stations generally healthy sometimes change their nature and become so sickly as to be abandoned. Kurnaul is a remarkable example of this; the abuse of irrigation converting the neighbourhood into a marsh.

2. OF BENGAL.—The seasons throughout Bengal are divided into the Hot, the Rainy, and the Cold. The hot season in Calcutta may be considered to begin about the middle of March, increasing in