Another luminous phenomenon which sometimes appears in the hill country, consists of beams of light, which intersect the sky, whilst the sun is yet in the ascendant; sometimes horizontally, accompanied by intermitting movements, and sometimes vertically, a broad belt of the blue sky interposing between them.[1] [Footnote 1: VIGNE mentions an appearance of this kind in the valley of Kashmir: "Whilst the rest of the horizon was glowing golden over the mountain tops, a broad well-defined ray-shaped streak of indigo was shooting upwards in the zenith: it remained nearly stationary about an hour, and was then blended into the sky around it, and disappeared with the day. It was, no doubt, owing to the presence of some particular mountains which intercepted the red rays, and threw a blue shadow, by causing so much of the sky above Kashmir to remain unaffected by them."--_Travels in Kashmir_, vol. ii. ch. x. p. 115.] In Ceylon this is doubtless owing to the air holding in suspension a large quantity of vapour, which receives shadows and reflects rays of light. The natives, who designate them "Buddha's rays," attach a superstitious dread to their appearance, and believe them to be portentous of misfortune--in every month, with the exception of _May_, which, for some unexplained reason, is exempted. HEALTH.--In connection with the subject of "Climate," one of the most important inquiries is the probable effect on the health and constitution of a European produced by a prolonged exposure to an unvarying temperature, upwards of 30 degrees higher than the average of Great Britain. But to this the most tranquillising reply is the assurance that _mere heat, even to a degree beyond that of Ceylon, is not unhealthy in itself_. Aden, enclosed in a crater of an extinct volcano, is not considered insalubrious; and the hot season in India, when the thermometer stands at 100° at midnight, is comparatively a healthy period of the year. In fact, in numerous cases heat may be the means of removing the immediate sources of disease. Its first perceptible effect is a slight increase, of the normal bodily temperature beyond 98°, and, simultaneously, an increased activity of all the vital functions. To this everything contributes an exciting sympathy--the glad surprise of the natural scenery, the luxury of verdure, the tempting novelty of fruits and food, and all the unaccustomed attractions of a tropical home. Under these combined influences the nervous sensibility is considerably excited, and the circulation acquires greater velocity, with somewhat diminished force. This is soon followed, however, by the disagreeable evidences of the effort made by the system to accommodate itself to the new atmospheric condition. The skin often becomes fretted by "prickly heat," or tormented by a profusion of boils, but relief being speedily obtained through these resources, the new comer is seldom afterwards annoyed by a