Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall sp1.djvu/225

  The following observations on the heat of the weather during this service, were made by Mr. G. T. Heath, surgeon of the Psyche.

“It is necessary to remark, that from the 13th May to June 29th, we were the greater part of the time at anchor in Busheer roads, making a trip occasionally to Carrack for water; the Samiel, or north-west wind, prevailed almost the whole time. This scorching blast, as it is generally termed, is not positively hot, for on exposing the thermometer to the current of the breeze, when blowing strong, the mercury fell from 82° to 76°. The effects of this wind on the human body are, an immediate dryness and parching of the skin, producing a total stop to perspiration; appetite fails; respiration is impeded; to sleep is impossible, and a general restlessness, uneasiness, and anxiety are felt, which it is impossible to describe: all these effects result from a total suppression of perspiration, which is a cooling process, and nature’s chief mean for carrying off redundant heat. Hence I am inclined to think that the burning quality usually ascribed to this wind is not to be attributed to the actual heat of the wind itself, but to our own sensations of heat, arising in a secondary way from the parchingof the skin. Hence we may also infer, that our own feelings are a very inaccurate measure of the actual heat of the atmosphere.

“On the 29th June, we left Busheer for Congoon, where we anchored on the 3d July, and found the heat still more intense; in the coolest parts of the ship, viz. the Captain’s cabin and half-deck, the mercury generally stood at 92° or 93°, and never lower than 90°; on the quarter-deck, shaded by awnings and curtains, it frequently rose to above 100°, and in one instance to 126°. A salt dew fell in considerable quantity during the night, and the quantity was always greatest when the wind blew from the southward. While we lay at Congoon, John Spillard, a landsman, aged 30, was seized with symptoms of inflammation of the brain, which in less than three hours terminated his existence by a bursting of the blood vessels (of the brain) producing apoplexy; this, and several other cases, were easily traced to exposure of the head, (probably uncovered) to the scorching rays of the sun ”. 