CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND. Copy of a Despatch From Governor Grey to the Right Hon. Earl Grey. Government House, Auckland, October 16,1850.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 615, 6 March 1852, Page 3

CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND. Copy of a Despatch From Governor Grey to the Right Hon. Earl Grey. Government House, Auckland, October 16,1850.

My Lord,—l have the honor to transmit a memoir, by Dr. A. S. Thomson, surgeon 58th Regiment, on the influence of the climote of the north island of New Zealand, on the production and prevention of disease amongst emigrants who arrive in this country. This paper is in every respect a most able and interesting one, and I feel sure that it -will be perused with much gratification by your lordship. Indeed Dr. Thomson, by the ability and industry which he has bestowed upon its compilation, has conferred a most important benefit upon this colony, and upon all persons who take an interest in its progress.—l have, &c, (Signed) G. Grey. The Right Hon. Earl Grey, &c, &c.

Observation's on the Influence of the North Island of New Zealand in the Production and Prevention of Disease among Emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, with a few Remarks on the Advantage which the Island possesses as a Convalescent Station from India and China. It is now upwards of seventy years since Cnpt. Cook found that his ship's crew enjoyed remarkable salubrity when on the New Zealand coast. The missionaries who, thirty five years back, undertook the honourable and dangerous duty of Christianizing the natives, confirmed the opinion of the great navigator. Within the last ten years settlers have been frequently writing to their friends in England, about the salubrity of the climate. As, however, the personal experience of any individual never carries with it that Aveight wiiich comprehensive numerical returns obtain, I have, at the request of His Excellency Sir George Grey, drawn up the following paper on the climate of New Zealand, from observations drawn from the troops serving in the country. The conclusions arrived at cannot fail, I think of proving very satisfactory to those who have ak-eady fixed their residence here, but the results may also induce others to select New Zealand as their adopted country, when they find,,in addition tea fertile soil, that the island is as healthy as Madeira; and that the climate is found occasionally to check, and without doubt to diminish, the frequency of pectoral .consumption —a malady so prevalent and fatal among all classes of persons in ,Great Britain. The.Nature of flic Climate.—-The mean temperature of the north island of New Zealand is higher, and the range of the thermometer is less than in England; the climate is also more moist, as will appear-by the subjoined table,^howing the elements of the climate at three different places, namely, the Bay of Islands, Auckland, and Wellington, to which I have added, for the sake of comparison, similar information taken from good authorities respecting the climates of London and Madeira: —

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The Bay of Islands — which is situated near to the northern extremity of the North Island, enjoys a climate similar to that of Madeira, but the temperature falls as we advance southward to Auckland and Wellington. The quantity of rain, and the number of days on which it falls, are also greater at the two last named places ; which circumstance I am inclined to attribute to local causes, as, having spent part of the months of August and September, 1849, in the interior of the North Island, I experienced few wet days in comparison with what occurred at Auckland, during the same months. The highest temperatuie which occurred at Auckland, by placing a thermometer in the sun's rays, was 140 ° Fahr., which occurred during the month of February, 1849. The pressure of the air in New Zealand is very similar to what has been observed in London, and is not so great a<3 what occurs at Madeira. The quantity of rain which falls at Auckland and Wellington is apparently very similar ; but during the two years observed, the number of rainy days were more numerous at Auckland and Wellington. The temperature of the North Island of New Zealand supports the opinion that the mean temperature of the southern hemisphere is lower than that of corresponding latitudes in the northern, although not to the extent laid down by Baron Humboldt. The Period over which the following Observations extended. — I have drawn up this paper from observations made during a period of two years, from the Ist April, 1848, to the 31st March 1850. My reason for selecting these two annual periods was, because all the troops, with the exception of a few recruits, had been resitl nt in New Zealand for upwards of a year, and a grea portion of them several years ; during this period, also, the troops

were not exposed to the Injurious effects of field ! service. The diseases and deaths which occurred among them may, Avith ono or two exceptions, be clearly referred to the climate of the countiy. The strength of the troops during the period, — For the year ending March, 1849... 1919 » " 1850. ..1822 The average strength of male adults during the two years was 1870. This force was distributed as follows : — At the Bay of Islands, on an average.... 183 At Auckland " .... 631 At Wanganui or Petre 356 At Wellington and its neighbourhood ... 700 It will therefore be seen from the geographical position of the above places, that the men were stationed at the two extremities of the island, and the conclusions drawn from them are indications of the climate of the whole island. I have not included the officers, women, and children in my calculations, although they afforded a strong proof of the accuracy of the^conclusions drawn from the men. The Number of Deaths which occurred, — In the year ending March 1849, out of 1919 men, 19 died from disease, or 10 per 1000. In the year ending March 1850, out of 1822 men, 13 died from disease, or 8\ per 1000. This gives an average mortality during the two years of 8£ per 1000. Among soldiers stationed in Great Britain the mean annual mortality from disease is 14 men per 1000, so that residence in New Zealand saves the lives of five men annually out of every thousand. Some part of this reduced mortality may be attributed, however, to New Zealand being an open country, with no large and densely-peopled towns to generate disease. On the Diseases which p? oduced the Deaths. — The following table shows the total number of admissions into hospital, and deaths among the troops in New Zealand during the two years ending March 1850 ; and I have calculated the annual ratios per "1,000 which the above admissions and deaths give ; and have also, for the sake of comparison, added the same information regarding the troops quartered in Great Britain.

This table is thus read : during the last two years 47 cases of fever occurred among the troops and 1 died. This gives an annual ratio of admissions in New Zealand of 13 men per 1000; in Great Britain it is 75. The annual ratio from mortality irom fever in New Zealand is o'3 per 1000 ; in Great Britain it is I*4. Before remarking on the frequency of different diseases, let me draw attention to the remarkable salubrity of the troops ; for it may be seen, from the above table, that the number of persons attacked v/ith sickness in New Zealand was onehalf less than what takes place in Great Britain. On the Prevalence of Febrile Diseases. — It will be seen that the North Island of New Zealand enjoys a remarkable exemption from febrile diseases. lam aware the town and neighbourhood of Auckland had the reputation, a few years ago, of generating a peculiar form of fever said to be contagious ; but lam inclined to doubt it having its origin from the climate of the place, for I have seen among the civil population of Auckland, during the last two years, several cases of low fever, but all the patients were people living in houses placed in low, dirty, and badly -drained streets. The cases, without doubt, had their origin, in my opinion, from local causes which might be removed — not from the climate of the country.* The fatal case of fever among the troops was complicated with internal organic disease. The attack was very different from that simple and fatal form of fever met with among the poor in the large towns of Great Britain. There are fewer attacks of fever at Wellington than Auckland ; a result to be attributed to some local peculiarities, and to the town of Wellington being less crowded and better drained than Auckland. At Auckland, during the autumnal months, when the heat rises frequently very nearly to 70 Fahr., people occasionally suffer from slight bilious fevers of a few days duration, which are often caused by using a diet too heating for the season. From the moisture of the climate it might be supposed that New Zealand was a country which would produce ague, but this is not the case ; the disease is almost unknown among the natives living in the low, broad, and fertile banks of the Waikato and Waipa rivers. I have often asked Europears, who have resided for a long time in different parts of the interior of the island, if they ever had ague or intermittent fever, and the answer has always been in the negative. During the year 1849 a detachment of recruits joined the 58th regiment from England ; they had been quartered in Tilbury Fort, in Essex, for several months previous to embarkation for New Zealand. During the voyage out, and shortly after their arrival, several of the men were attacked with ague ; the disease went on for four months, every seizure, however, being less severe. At last the disease wore itself out; the men have now completely regained their health and are perfectly free from ague. I have seen no instance of ague contracted in this country, and although several hundred men have been quartered here during the period of this report on the banks of the Wanganui River, no case of ague has been reported by the medical officer in charge, as having occurred among them as an original disease. Eruptive Fevers. — Scarlet fever is the only eruptive fever which has made its appearance in New Zealand. In 1848, it commenced without any obvious contagious cause in the town of Auck-

* Mr. Wilson, Colonial Surgeon at New Plymouth, has well and forcibly pointed out that a fev?r which occurred there had a similar origin,

land, and proved fatal to eighteen persons. It is very doubtful whether it extended itself among the native population ; but I saw two Anglo-New Zealand children with the disease. It is, however, the nature of scarlet fever to diffuse itself ver"y slowly, as it was observed in 1735 a when it broke out among the natives of America. Small-pox and measles are still unknown in this country. On the Prevalence of Diseases of the Lungs. — It will be seen on referring to the foregoing table, that the number of soldiers affected with pectoral complaints in New Zealand has been almost onethird less than what occurs among the same class of persons living in Great Britain. The deaths are also very low : during the year ending March 1849, the mortality from pectoral disease was 5£ per 1000, whereas in the year ending March 1850, when the men had been exposed to the ciimate of New Zealand for a longer period, the mortality produced by disease of the lungs fell to 2J men per 1000 ; among troops in Great Britain, the annual mortality from disease of the lungs is very nearly 8 men per 1000. I have now before me an abstract history of the cases, and post mortem appearances of all the sixteen individuals who died from pulmonic complaints during the last two years ; and in several of them the signs of dicsase, such as cough and expectoration of blood, originated during the voyage out, or before embarkation from England. Thus for example : Private 8., a spldier in the 58th regiment, one of the fatal ca^es in 1849, had, in 1842, when quartered in. England, signs of consumption ; he was so ill when his regiment left Chatham in 1844, that his embarkation was a question of consideration, and his death during the voyage prognosticated: he arrived in New Zealand ; the cough, though it never entirely left him, became slight ; he lived on for four years. After death, the post mortem appearances showed tubercles in the lungs evidently of long duration. Again, Sergeant D., when on his voyage out from England to New Zealand in 1843, was attacked with symptoms of pulmonary disease. If he had returned to England, a fatal result might soon have followed ; but, in New Zealand, the disease was apparently checked* and, although never a robust man, he enjoyed life in a tolerable manner for four years. After death it was found that only a small portion of one lung could perform its function. There is considerable difficulty in obtaining materials for a just comparison of the frequency of pectoral disease in different countries ; but the following statement showing the ratio of admissions and deaths from pectoral disease among troops quartered in different countries cannot fail of proving interesting.

This table is thus read : — At Malta, 18 soldiers per 1000 died every year from all diseases ; 129 men are admitted with pectoral complaints out of the same number of men and 6 died. From what I have learned by the perusal of the reports of the different medical officers, and from what I have observed during nearly three^ears residence in New Zealand, and from the rarity of pectoral disease among the sons of the missionaries whohave been born and brought up in New Zealand, I am quite convinced the low mortality among the troops does not arise from accident, but it is a true indication that the European population living in the North Island of New Zealand enjoy a remarkable exemption from disease of the lungs a result which can be attributed to no other cause but the climate, an opinion which is also held by Surgeon Prendergast of the 65th Regi.* I may observe, as it leads to confirm my remarks on the frequency of pectoral disease, that, during the two yeai*s ending March, 1849 — i Out of the men under 1 year's residence, 1 man died

Diseases of the Brain. — The return shows that this class of diseases are not more frequent than in Great Britain. Diseases of the Liver are neither in frequency nor severity greater than in England. Diseases of the Stomach and BoMels are both less frequent and, less fatal than in England. Epidemic cholera has not visited this couutry since the arrival of Europeans. Dropsies. — This class of disease is more frequent in New Zealand than in England, a result which I attribute to the mild nature of the climate tending to produce a chronic state of constitutional disease, which in the end leads to organic lesions and dropsical effusions. The clknate of England would have caused these diseases to have assumed an acute form which might have terminated in death. Rheumatic Affections. — It is a general opinion that rheumatic complaints are frequent in New Zealand. The results of the last two years are opposed to this opinion. Chronic rheumatism is a disease of old soldiers; but not many acute cases of rheumatism have come under my observation, and Surgeon Prendergast, of the 65th Regiment states, he has not treated during the year ending March, 1850, one case deserving the name of acute rheumatism. I am, however, in clined to think slight rheumatic pains are common in New Zealand. Venereal affections are much less frequent than in England, but its prevalence is increasing every year. Abscesses and ulcers are less frequent than in England. Diseases of the eyes are more frequent in New Zealand, than in Englond. lam aware that diseases of the eyes are peculiarly a military affection, and often ari&e from the collection of large bodies of men, and their exposure to the night air on sentry ; but in New Zealand I have seen many civilians suffering under opthalmia, which makes me infer there is a tendencj to this malady in the country. In a memoir which has no other object than simply to record facts, it may appear out of place to enter into any speculation, but having seen that disease and death are less frequent in New Zealand than in England, the question naturally arises, — Is the duration of man's life more extended ? I should certainly say that it was, not only from the results adduced in this paper, but also from the circumstance that the mortality among children under five years of age has been found to be very low, and from the gehtal nature of the climate, giving to old men an -ease and comfort which no wealth or artifice can produce in England There is a question which time alone can de-

* The results of the different stations obtained from the statistics of the ai my. t From seven years' observation, ending March, 1850, kindly furnished by Staff Surgeon Shanks, Principal Medical Officer, New South Wales. X I have taken the year 1830 for ;his return, because I believe it affords a, more correct idea of the frequency of pectoral disease*.

termine : will the European population, born and brought up in New Zealand, possess the mental and bodily energy of those reared during their childhood in Great Britain ? Will not the genial climate and the ease -with which the soil yields its fruits, produce a population similar to that found under the cloudless skies and tropical temperature of the shores of the Mediterranean. On the advantages of the North Island of New Zealand as a Convalescent Station from India and China. The North Island of New Zealand will be found a more favourable residence for Europeans who have lost their health in India, China, or within the tropics, than the Cape of Good Hope, the Mediterranean, the Australian continent, or even Great Britain. Its superiority over Great Britain consists in the more genial nature of the climate, the absense of that intense cold, and sudden vicissitudes of temperature, which are found unpleasant and often hurtful to men long inured to tropical countries. Its superiority over the Cape of Good Hope and the Mediterranean consists in the less frequent occurrence ol those diseases which affect Europeans in India. Having been quartered for nearly eight years in widely different parts of India, I am aware that remittent and intermittent fevers, liver complaints, and diseases of the stomach and bowels, are the chief maladies which drive Europeans from India, to search for health at the Cape of Good Hope, Malta, and other countries ; it will therefore be seen from the subjoined statement how rare these affections are in New Zealand, compared to their frequency in other places.

It will be seen from this statement, the materials for which are drawn from the Medical Statistics of the Army, that febrile diseases are six times as frequent and six times as fatal at the Cape of Good Hope as at New Zealand. I have already stated that the intermittent fever is an unknown disease in this country, and that the climate checked the occurrence of ague in several men -who had contracted the disease in England. If liver disease or disease of the* stomach and bowels is the malady which affects the old Indian, he cannot find a country where these affections are less frequent than in New Zealand. In 1847 the Government sent out several divisions of Enrolled Pensioners to New Zealand : these men were all men about 45 years of age, and had served in different quarters of the globe ; many had been invalided with long tropical service, both in the East and West Indies. My friend Dr. H. W. Mahon, of the Royal Navy, has been in charge of one division of these enrolled pensioners for several years : to him I applied for information regarding their health, and to my application he sent me the following answer :—: — " Between the months of December and June 1848, there were thirty -seven cases of intermittent fever at Howick, as follows : — Men, 16 ; women, 13 ; children 8. From June 1848, up to the present, I had not a single case of an intermittent type under treatment, nor have I met the malady in my private practice. " On inquiry, and it is worthy of remark, I found the ague in question to be exclusively confined to such of the pensioners and their families who arrived by the Sir George Seymour, transport ship, and who were detained for some time at Tilbury Fort previous to their embarkation for New Zealand, several cases of ague having occurred on board during the voyage, and there being no illness of this description amongst any other pensioners, before or after the location of the division at Howick, I am of opinion lhat the cause of it is attributable to malaria from the low, marshy districts contiguous to Tilbury Fort, where they resided for some time before leaving England. Rheumatic, catarrahal, and bowel complaints, chiefly diarrhoea, were tolerably frequent, but, being of a mild form, readily yielded to treatment. " Hepatic diseases or dysentry, which might have been expected to be troublesome among discharged and invalided soldiers, were rare in comparison with other complaints up to this date, July 24, 1850. Nine men j belonging to the divisions to which I have been attach- , i ed, died under the following diseases, viz., one died of chronic disease of the liver ; one of paralysis ; three of [ dropsy ; two died in the colonial hospital of gastritis and broncbiiis; one died of delirium a-potu ; and another was acidentally killed. " When we consider the period of life at which these pensioners have arrived, the climate to which they were exposed, and the variety of ailment they have endured during a long career of military service, before they were discharged or invalided from tropical climates, the mortality from natural causes, is not more than might be expected." To the Indian who has suffered from no disease, but whose mind and body are exhausted and enervated by the high temperature and restless [ nights which residence in the tropics produces, New Zealand will be found a peculiarly agreeable residence. I speak of this from mj own personal experience, and that of one or two others who have suffered from the exhaustion of an Indian life.— l have, &c, (Signed) A. S. Thomson, M.D., Surgeon 58th Regt, in temporary charge of the principal Medical Officer's office in New Zealand. Auckland, Oct. 13, 1850.

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