_Dr. A._ Its atmosphere is too sulphureous; in addition to which every egress from the town is difficult and unpleasant, owing to the lava from the Volcano. But there is in my opinion an insuperable objection to the Sicilian climate from the extreme heat of its summer, from which the invalid cannot easily escape. _Mr. B._ Well then, Malta. _Dr. A._ Dr. Domeier, in his account of this climate, tells us that the thermometer seldom varies in this island more than 6° in the twenty-four hours, or stands below 51°, even in the depth of winter: but then the summer, which is protracted even to the month of November, is extremely mischievous from its heat, the force of which is severely felt in a country where there is scarcely any visible foliage, the place of hedges being universally occupied by stone walls. _Mr. B._ Let me hear what you have to say with respect to the other islands which have gained celebrity for their climates, such as Madeira, the Bermudas, Jamaica,-- _Dr. A._ You must be well aware that these places are, generally speaking, beyond the reach of the ordinary class of English invalids. Madeira has been greatly extolled by Dr. Adams, who even ventures to assert that in cases of consumption, if the patient does not saunter away his time, after his physician has advised him to quit England, we may with certainty promise him a cure. In the West Indies it is agreed by all authors, that consumptive affections are almost unknown, and that scrofula in all its forms is uncommon. _Mr. B._ Would you recommend a residence in the West Indies to a person who has free control over his movements? _Dr. A._ If we may be allowed to draw any inference from the qualities of a climate, as indicated by the thermometer, or by its effects on the constitution of the inhabitants, there can be but little doubt that a residence in the Bermudas, in a temperate and sheltered part of Jamaica, or in some other of the West India Islands, would present every advantage, towards the recovery of a consumptive patient, that climate alone can bestow. _Mr. B._ I thank you sincerely, my good Sir, for the patience and candour with which you have discussed the subject of climate. I am fully sensible of the difficulties with which it is encompassed, and of the utter impossibility of expecting from medical advice a satisfactory solution of the many problems which it involves. Every invalid must, to a certain extent, rely upon his own judgment; but before I finally decide upon the place of my destination, allow me to trespass still farther upon your patience, in order to learn whether, after all, there be not some favoured spot in our own country, where I might seek shelter from the approaching season, and which would supersede the necessity of travelling to a foreign land?