Proceedings of the Philadelphia County Medical Society. (Volume 15)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: VESICAL CALCULUS IN CANTON PROVINCE, CHINA, INCLUDING THE REPORT OF A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN 894 OPERATIONS. By J. G. KERR. M.D., LL.D. [Read January 10, 1894.] The Province of Kwong-tung, of which Canton is the capital, is the most southern part of China and lies between 21 and 26 north latitude, andl09 and 118 east longitude, apart being in the torrid, but the greater part in the temperate zone. The city of Canton is a few miles south of the line between the two zones, and is on nearly the same latitude as Calcutta, Mecca, and Havana. The temperature in summer ranges from 85 to 90, the maximum in ordinary years being placed at 96, and the thermometer rarely shows 100 in the shade. In winter ice is occasionally formed, but the usual temperature is from 35 to 55. In the northern part of the Province snow falls on the hills, but in the southern part frost and ice are never seen. From October to January, both months included, the atmosphere is dry, and there is little rain. The rainy season is from February to June. Sometimes there is continuous rain for several weeks, but usually there are intervals of clear weather. The annual fall of rain is 70.625 inches. The northeast monsoon commences in October, and is the prevailing wind till March, when the southwest monsoon sets in.'' During the rainy season the atmosphere is charged with moisture, which at times is excessive. During the summer months the heat, as a rule, is continuous, with but little difference between night and day. Slight physical exertion brings on free perspiration, and the laboring classes discharge a large amount of fluid through the skin, the loss being supplied by the free use of tea. Atmospheric vicissitudes are not frequent, but there are occasional sudden changes. Destructive typhoons v...