Both he and Dr. Sandwith, from whose excellent “Egypt as a Winter Resort” the following tables are taken, seem agreed as to its suitability for all cases of chest disease that have not gone too far to be amendable to climatic treatment of any sort, and Dr. Sandwith finds it also suitable for such cases of heart and kidney affections as are unfavourably affected by cold; while the sulphur baths of Helouan have been found remarkably useful in the chronic forms of rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism and gout. The main characteristic of the climate is its intense dryness. Even on the coast at Alexandria, the rainfall is but trifling, and above Cairo it may almost be neglected; but in spite of this even during the hottest months the climate is quite bearable. “Northern rooms, if closed in good time, need never exceed 83° in the hot weather, or fall below 52° in the cold season, provided the sun-warmed air be allowed free entry.” The prevailing wind is a gentle breeze from the north, but both at Cairo and Alexandria, during the fifty days about Easter-time, a peculiar dust-laden wind, highly charged with electricity, and known as “the Khamseen,” blows at intervals. It is very disagreeable while it lasts, the dust sometimes obscuring the sun almost as completely as a London fog, but it rarely persists more than two days at a time, and does not usually occur more than three or four times in a season. The following tables will give a good general idea of the climate:-- ALEXANDRIA. LAT. 31° 13′ N.; LONG. 26° 53′ E. E.F., 66 ft. =========+==================+======+======+=======+============= Month | Temperature, F. | Rela-| Rain |Clouds,| Winds +----+------+------+ tive | in | 0-10 +------+------ |Mean| Mean | Mean |Humid-|Inches| |Direc-|Force, | | Maxi-| Mini-| ity | | | tion |0-10 | | ma | ma | % | | | | ---------+----+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------ January |58·1| 64·0 | 53·2 | 67 | 2·33 | 4 | N. | 2·5 February |58·6| 64·2 | 54·0 | 65 | 1·43 | 4 | N.W. | 2·5 March |61·6| 68·0 | 56·0 | 65 | ·78 | 3 | N.W. | 2·7 April |66·0| 73·0 | 60·6 | 66 | ·12 | 2 | N. | 2·5 May |70·0| 75·4 | 65·6 | 70 | ·03 | 2 | N. | 2·2 June |75·0| 79·6 | 71·2 | 72 | -- | 1 | N. | 2·3 July |77·6| 81·2 | 74·8 | 75 | -- | 1 |N.N.W.| 2·4 August |79·0| 82·4 | 76·1 | 73 | -- | 1 | N. | 2·0 September|77·4| 81·2 | 74·3 | 69 | ·11 | 2 | N. | 2·3 October |74·6| 79·2 | 70·6 | 68 | ·33 | 2 | N. | 2·1 November |68·2| 73·4 | 64·0 | 67 | 1·32 | 3 | N. | 2·2 December |62·0| 67·8 | 57·0 | 67 | 1·79 | 4 | N. | 2·4 ---------+----+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------ Annual |69·0| 74·1 | 64·8 | 68·6 | 8·24 | 2·4 | N. | 2·3 =========+====+======+======+======+======+=======+======+======