'MEMOIR on the Climate and Diseases of Southern Turkish Arabia by Surgeon-Major J. Hyslop, M.D.' [‎53v] (7/12)

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ft. b, .hl.h it. vol— i. «■ ■«"«* " X 1 ~ d " ""
very difficult.
mi.J.-EilUi j ^ sSfand ^1™^ !h>l ww'l!
S ESpbtHtS 1 at m. Jlra ha. ^ "Lf poSm". 11 Jt
KWSSK «
the place, and the date P^ n |f^j 10 " ,, , ' Hillah is built almost
liaissssss
perhaps of Samarreh.
Baahdad. Baghdad is situated on the river Tigris, in lat. 33° 19' 40 ' N.,
and Ion" 44° 26'E., in the centre of a large alluvial plain, which is
intersected by the Wo great rivers, Euphrates and Tigr^ The soi ls a
deep and rich alluvium, and the country almost perfectly level, thickly
dotted over with mounds, the ruins of ancient cities towns, and canals.
Along the banks of the river for some miles, both above and ' )cl0 ^
citv, besides date plantations, there are numerous gardens, yielding a
considerable produce of fruit and vegetables. V ith the exception of
a few cultivated spots in the neighbourhood of towns and villages, how-
ever, the whole country is an arid waste, which requires only water to
make it a fertile land.
Tigris.—At Baghdad, the breadth of the Tigris is 871 feet from bank
to bank; the depth varies at different seasons from (3 to 25 feet. 1 here
are two annual rises of the river, one in the beginning ol wintei from
rain, the other in spring, caused by the melting ol snow on the mountain
ranges of Armenia, from which the river has its sources, at an approxi
mate height of 5,050 feet. The winter rise is insignificant and irregular,
but that in spring is quite the reverse. The volume of water is observed
to increase generally about the end of March, and the increase continues
till the middle of April, from which time it falls slowly and gradually
until October, when it is at its minimum size. The rise varies much in
different years, but it is never less than ten or twelve feet; when it
exceeds eighteen it overflows the banks, and causes more or less mischief
according to the suddenness of the rise and the volume of water spread
over the country.
In 1849 and 1850 the rises were greater than any since 1831; the
partial and badly constructed embankments gave way, inundations
resulted, and, on both occasions, they presented the appearance of a sea
from Baghdad to Busreh. The former city was surrounded by the flood,
and in many instances the courtyards and cellars of the houses were
filled with water. When the river began to fall and the floods to
subside, the heat of summer, acting on an immense tract of marsh, pro
duced fever of no ordinary virulence, which, in the first of these years,
carried off 11,000 people in Baghdad and its suburbs.
Climate. —The climate of Baghdad presents a considerable variety of
aspect at the different seasons. We have the torrid summer of the
tropics, the cold winter of the north, and the mild and genial spring and
autumn of Southern Europe. The hottest months are July and August
when the mean temperature is about 95° The coldest months" are
IJeceniber and January, in which the mean temperature is a little over
' / h -December and January frost is not uncommon, and ice is
occasionally seen. March and April are the two most pleasant months