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PENZANCE AS A HEALTH-RESORT.

THE advantages of this south-western watering-place asa health-resort are but little known to the profession andpublic, and Dr. Montgomery has done good service in

calling attention thereto in an address to a professionalgathering in this ,first and last borough," which is fullyreported in the Western Morning News of the 28th ult. The

special peculiarities of its climate are its equability, the

absence of severe cold, and the prevalence of south-westerlywinds. The town is completely sheltered from the north,and largely so from the east and west, having an almostdirect southerly aspect. The neighbourhood is delightful;geraniums, fuchsias, and myrtles grow out of doors unpro-tected in the severest winter, and attain an immense size.Many forms of phthisis improve very much, especiallyif complicated with irritative cough and sleeplessness, andso suitable a locality for such cases can hardly be foundelsewhere in the kingdom. Its chief disadvantage is thatit is undoubtedly very relaxing, and visitors and patientsnot unfrequently lose their appetites whilst staying here;but the north coast of Cornwall, which is only six or eightmiles distant, is very bracing, and has many a shelteredspot, which might be much more utilised by invalids thanat present. We would incidentally point out that CarbisValley, near St. Ives, now rendered easily accessible by anew line of railway, is one of those pleasant and agreeablevalleys, and we wonder that the Land’s End neighbourhooditself is so little made use of as a residence by sufferersfrom phthisis. The west of Cornwall is decidedly humid,as might be expected from its proximity to the ocean, andthe predominance of south-west winds; but the rain isalmost always mild, so that the rainfall does not show aparticularly high yearly average. The late Sir John Forbeslived and practised at Penzance for many years whilst hislungs were delicate, and obtained much benefit therefrom.Penzance is exceptionally well drained and sewered, andthe fact that the connexions between the houses and themain drains were made by the local authorities under thepersonal supervision of the surveyor, and not left to thediscretion of the owners of the houses, is most important ina sanitary point of view, and explains in a great measure itsfreedom from zymotic diseases. A few additional sewer-ventilators might still be made with advantage. Some ofthe local authorities seem to regret that the sewage is notutilised, but allowed to run to waste; but at present weare inclined to advise them to 11 let well alone." We feelbound, however, to again lay stress on two or three

points to which we referred last autumn. The water-

supply to the town has been notoriously insufficient duringthe past few years, and this is the less excusable as plentyof water could be easily obtained and stored, if the localauthorities would only make a right use of the naturaladvantages of the district in this matter. Dr. Montgomeryseems to have left this unnoticed in his address, and weshould be glad to learn that effectual precautions had beentaken to prevent such a drawback occurring again in futuredry summers. The filter-beds, which an enlightened policywould soon cause to be completed, also seem to have droppedinto temporary oblivion, and are too far removed from thetown. It is scarcely necessary to point out that the shorterthe length of pipe through which the water has to run afterhaving undergone filtration, the purer will it be on delivery;and an eligible site should have been secured nearer thetown than the present one. We believe that there is no

registration of the lodging-houses with regard to the pre-sence of infectious cases therein, nor is there a separatehospital for the isolation of such cases should they occur.As Penzance was one of the first towns in the kingdom tostir itself in sanitary matters, we should regret to see itpassed by later comers in the field. It would be better ifits medical cfficer of health were a paid servant of theurban sanitary authorities, and were called on to furnishfor publication a quarterly or half-yearly report of its

sanitary condition, as is the case in most watering-places,and is manifestly to the interest of towns which are sofree from preventable disease. If future gatherings of

medical men take place a little more frequently than ,oncein fifty years," as stated by Dr. Montgomery, such de-ficiencies as we have pointed out must soon be thingsof the past, and Penzance would become as perfect in itssanitary arrangements as it is delightful in scenery andclimate.

AIR DISSOLVED IN SEA-WATER.

Mr. J. Y. BUCHANAN, the chemist to the Challenger expe-dition, has favoured us with an abstract of a very interest-ing paper on the above subject, which he read a few weeksago before the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Mr. Buchanan showed the water bottle which he had in-

vented, and which was used for collecting the " interme-diate waters." It consists of a metal cylinder with tap ateach end, connected by a metal rod bearing a flap, whichfalls into position when the bottle ceases to descend, and in" being hove in" the pressure of the water rushing past itcauses it to descend and shut the taps, thus enclosing thedesired sample of water. The apparatus for boiling out theoxygen and nitrogen, and that for determining the carbonicacid, were illustrated by diagrams, which also afforded anidea of the arrangements inside the miniature laboratoryon board the Challenger. The general results of investiga-tions made went to show that while the absolute amount of

oxygen and nitrogen capable of being dissolved is less inthe case of sea-water than in that of fresh water, the pro-portion between the amounts of the two gases dissolvedremains nearly the same; that the absolute amount dis-solved both of permanent gas and of carbonic acid dependson the temperature; that in no case is there more gas dis-solved in water taken from any depth than it would becapable of absorbing from the atmosphere in regions wherethe same temperature prevails at the surface; that, in fact,the water at great depths preserves all the physical pro-perties which it had when it left the surface, includingtemperature, specific gravity, and gaseous contents (withthe exception of the proportion of oxygen). The beliefin the existence of water at great depths so chargedwith gas as to effervesce when brought to the surface isnot wholly false. This phenomenon is observed when wateris brought from great depths in the hot equatorial andtropical regions. Near the bottom the water may have atemperature bordering on the freezing point, and willcontain a corresponding amount of air. Brough t to the sur-face, where the temperature may be between 80" and 90° F.,it can no longer contain the same amount of gas; and if ina glass vessel, the walls will be seen to clothe themselveswith minute air bells, somewhat like natural seltzer waterwhich has stood for a little time in an open vessel. At thesurface the percentage of oxygen varies between 33 and 35per cent., the higher number having been observed in a watercollected almost on the antarctic circle; the smallest per-centages have been found in the tradewind districts. Inbottom-waters the absolute amount is greatest in antarcticregions, and diminishes generally towards the north. The

oxygen percentage is greatest over " diatomaceous oozes,"and least over "red clays" with peroxide of manganese,and over 11 blue muds" it is greater than over 11 globigerinaoozes." In intermediate waters the very remarkable factwas observed that the oxygen diminishes down to a depth of300 fathoms, where it attains a minimum, after which itrises. The following figures will show the nature of thisphenomenon :-

Between 800 and bottom ...... 23’5

It is evident from these figures that between 200 and 400fathoms there is a great consumption of oxygen going on,and as it is difficult to conceive its being consumed other-