if not quite, as great in many other places as it was in New York. From north and south, from east and west, we heard of abnormally high thermometers; we were told that in many localities the work in factories had to be discontinued, as the hands could not stand the heat. In some towns business seems to have been temporarily suspended, and the traffic in the streets ceased during the hottest part of the day. It was also reported from many places that heavy losses were experienced by the death of sheep and cattle. Nor was the great heat-wave without a tragic aspect. We read of a large number of cases of sunstroke occurring in various parts of America, many of which terminated fatally.
So far as we are able to form a picture of what actually happened, it would seem to have been one of the most protracted and calamitous spells of heat that have ever been recorded in America. It has been remarked as a somewhat peculiar feature, that there was an almost total absence of wind at the time when the heat was greatest; and it may also be recorded that the air was at the time largely charged with humidity. Every one who has had any experience of tropical heat knows that the suffering caused by an excessively high temperature is greatly enhanced if the air be saturated with moisture. Evaporation is then almost at a standstill, and one of the means by which the temperature of the body is kept down is so far rendered inoperative. I recollect being told by an officer who was in the Ashantee Expedition many years ago, that notwithstanding the excessive heat of the coast off which their ships lay at anchor, there was practically no evaporation, owing to the air being saturated with moisture. The towels which were hung up
