Philosophical transactions, Vol. L. Part II. For the year 1758.: Giving some account of the present undertakings, studies, and labours, of the ingenious, in many considerable parts of the world.Various
History
Philosophical transactions, Vol. L. Part II. For the year 1758.: Giving some account of the present undertakings, studies, and labours, of the ingenious, in many considerable parts of the world.
Various
Science -- Periodicals
THO’ some weeks have passed since I wrote to you, yet so little
alteration has happened in the state of our affairs, that nothing
occurs to me relative to them worth committing to paper. This indeed
I need not regret, as one cannot sit down to any thing, that requires
much application, but with extreme reluctance; for such is the
debilitating quality of our violent heats at this season, that an
inexpressible languor enervates every faculty, and renders even the
thought of exercising them painful.
’Tis now about three o’ clock; the sun bears nearly S. W. and I am
writing in a piazza, open at each end, on the north-east side of my
house, perfectly in the shade: a small breeze at S. E. blows freely
thro’ it; no buildings are nearer, to reflect the heat, than 60 yards:
yet in a thermometer hanging by me, made by Mr. Bird, and compared by
the late Mr. George Graham with an approved one of his own, the mercury
stands at 102. Twice it has risen this Summer to the same height;
_viz._ on the 28th of June, and the 11th of July. Several times it has
been at 100, and for many days successively at 98; and did not in the
nights sink below 89. I think it highly probable, that the inhabitants
of this town breathe a hotter air than any other people on the face of
the earth. The greatest heat we had last year was but 92, and that but
once: from 84 to 90 were the usual variations; but this is reckoned
an extraordinary hot summer. The weather-wise of this country say it
forebodes a hurricane; for it has always been remarked, that these
tempests have been preceded by continual and uncommon heats. I must
acquaint you, however, that the heats we are subject to here are more
intense than in any other parts of the province, the town of Savannah
being situated upon a sandy eminence, and sheltered all round with high
woods. But it is very sufficient, that the people actually breathe so
hot an air as I describe; and no less remarkable, that this very spot,
from its height and dryness, is reckoned equally healthy with any other
in the province.
I have frequently walked an hundred yards under an umbrella, with a
thermometer suspended from it by a thread to the height of my nostrils,
when the mercury has rose to 105; which is prodigious. At the same
time I have confined this instrument close to the hottest part of my
body, and have been astonished to observe, that it has subsided several
degrees. Indeed, I never could raise the mercury above 97 with the heat
of my body.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account