2^9 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ^55 AS A Health Resort. BY V An W. GLEITSMANN, M. D., Physician in Charge of the Mountain Sanitarium for Pulmonary Diseases, ASHEVILLE, N. C. Read bkfobe thk American Publio Health Association, Novembeb, 1875, at Baltimobk, AND Reprinted from the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical .;,■' Reporter, Febbuary, 1876. BALTIMOR E: PRESS OF SHERWOOD & CO. 1876. Glass. Book. Fgg^ WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH RESORT. The tendency of climatological science in our time is mainly directed to the study of the difterent constituents of climate, in order to ascertain thereby tVie fitness of special localities to certain classes of disease. The present sketch originated in the desire to make a small contribution to tliis department of our science, 1)}' furnishing a few dat-a concerning a region heretofore unknown in its climatic relations to a great number of our people. Western Noith Carolina, with the adjacent parts of North- western Soutb Carolina and Northeastern Georgia, contains the southern extremity of the Appalachian chain, which extends in a continuous range to the north, through the whole eastern part of the Union. The highest elevations of the whole chain are found in its soutliern part, and es^^ecially in western North Car- olina, thereb}' imparting special peculiarities of climate. • The region whicli directly occupies our attention is bounded east and west by higli mountain ranges, sloping gradually down, in the extreme north, to the southerly extension of the great Virginia valley, and declining very abruptly to the lowlands in the soutli. The boundary on the west is formed by the Unaka, Great Snioky^ the Bald, Iron and Stone mountains, their high- est ridge coinciding with the State line between Nortli Carolina and Tennessee. To the east we find the Blue Ridge proper, with the highest elevations east of the Rocky Mountairrs ; Black Dome being 6,707 feet above the le^^el of the sea. The Blue Ridge in this section is the waterslied between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mexican Gulf. All the streams having their sources east of the ridge empty into coast rivers, which flow, after short courses, into the Atlantic ; whilst to the west all the water flows into the Tennessee river, a tributary of the Ohio, and finds its outlet through the Mississippi into the Gulf of 2 fzS^ Mexico. Six principal strearas break tliroiigh tlie liigli western mountain barrier, among them the Tennessee river itself; and this peculiar feature contributes greatly to the variety of the different valleys, and enhances the beauty of the landscape. Prof. A. Guyot, of Princeton College, New Jersey, who explored this country some time ago, published a series of measurements he had taken. In this list, fifty-one mountains, rising over 6,000 feet above the sea-level, are mentioned. Western North Carolina embraces an area of about five thou- sand square miles, and has its greatest extension from north to south. The length, from Virginia to Georgia, is about one hundred and eighty miles, while the breadth varies from twenty to fifty miles. The whole country is undulating, and perfectly level places, even of small extent, are rarely to be found. It can neither be called a valley nor a high plateau, as several high mountain-ranges, of which the Balsam Mountains are the most prominent, traverse it from northwest to southeast, and the spurs of which, extending all over the country, are the cause of its irregularity. The high barrier in the west, formed by the Great Smoky Mountains and their continuation, runs from southwest to northeast, and breaks the force of the northwest storms so frequently occurring, and so well known for their severity all over the eastern portion of our continent. The geological character is, in general, of primary formation, which gives to the water a purity and softness highly appreciated by strangers. Springs are numerous, and greatly add to the richness of vegetation, which clothes all the mountains to their very summits. The mountains are all covered with timber, and a great variety of species presents itself to the eye of the botan- ist.* The soil is rich, and especially on the summits of the hills, a fact which, although surprising at first sight, is easily explained by the circumstance that the decay of leaves and veg- etable matter is left undisturbed by the hand of man or the washing of rains. The clearness of the atmosphere, on bright, *Prof. W. C. Kerr, State Geologist, says, in his report just published, that of species found iu the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, there are — and 19 in North Carolina. 8 (( 4 « u 3 (( 2 " " 3 " (1 K t( <( " 6 " " c< 7 (( «i Oaks, 22, Pine trees, B, Spruces, 5, Elms, 5, Walnuts, 2, Birches, 5, Maples, 5, Hickories, 8, Magnolias, 7, siinny days, makes the mountains appear miicli nearer than they are in reality, and often deceives in estimation of distances. If we enter into special investigation of the individual cli- matic factors, we have the longest series of observations made by the volunteer observer in Asheville, for the Smithsonian Insti- tute, extending over a period of -nearly eight years. This place is the princi})al town of Western North Carolina, being situated in the wide valley of the French Broad river, 2,250 feet above the ocean, and 250 feet above the river. It is located on an irregu- lar plateau, extending from the base of the last spurs of the Black Mountain, and is the true representative of a mountain climate. The })lace, owing to its southerly location (35° 36' north latitude), possesses the great advantage of being less subject to those great extremes of tem[)erature under which the East- ern and Westei'n States of tlie Union suffer so much. The im})ortance of tliis subject may justify an explanation, by some details and figures, in proof of the correctness of my assertion. Asheville is famous for the coolness of its summers, the temper- ature of 90° being recorded only once in the whole period of eight years. The thermometer seldom rises above 85°, and the highest tempei'ature in 1875 was 86° ; 1874, 88° ; and 8° the lowest point reached by the mercury in the Winter of 1874-75. The average summer temperature is 70.7°; and if we compare the extremes of heat and cold in cities having an equal or sim- ilar summer mean, the Cliief Signal Office Report for 1874 furnishes us the following interesting data, for the period from October 1st, 1873, to September 30th, 1874:— Cities Asheville, N. C... . 70-7 cU Sandv Hook, N. J.i 69-8 ' Long Bnmch, N.J. 698 ' Cleveland, Oliio.. New York City... Detroit, Michigan. Chicago, Illinois. . Denver, Colorado Colorado Springs.. St. Paul, Minn n 71-7 69-4 73-3 73 70-8 71-3 o t-* a., r- S3 § s H 88 deg. ' 93 " 1 94 11 1 96 93 97 99 103 " 101 99 O ^ aj 5 5 5 5 16 50 39 25 tunes. > a ^ ^^ a H 8 deg. 7 " 7 " 8 " 4 " " —6 " -11 " -17 " -33 " 1 time 11 " 14 " 33 " o -;>H 80 deg. 86 " 87 " 88 " 89 '« 97 " 105 " 113 " 118 " 133 " This table, which could easily be enlarged, shows in strono- figures the uniformity of climate at Asheville. But places with even a lower summer mean than Asheville show a considerably liighei- extreme, as we learn from tlie meteorological report of Professor G. T. Kingston for the Dominion of Canada for 1874. The whole number of stations was fifty-three/ all of whicli have a lower summer mean than Asheville. Of these stations, twenty-six showed over ninety degrees temperature ; and of twenty-eight stations in Ontario, twenty-one gave tlie same thermometric result, over ninety degrees. We would obtain a similar table in a contrary direction, by taking the winter mean of Asheville (37 "8°) as a standard of comparison with other places of the same mean winter temperature. Let it, however, suffice to say that these observations are corroborated by the records of the different volunteer stations in Western Nortli Carolina, as published in Professor Kerr's report. It can fairly be said that this region, and especially Asheville, has one of the lowest extremes of summer temperature, and that few places are found on the eastern side of the continent combining such cool- ness of summer with mild winters. Places of the same elevation show a still greater difference in our favor. Another feature of interest presents itself in a comparison, during a long period, of the diurnal ranges of the thermometer in places at the same or higher altitude. As the Chief Signal Office Report for 1874 does not contain records of the maximum and mininmm temperature at stations of a similar elevation, it is necessary to take stations which, though located higher, have the range during a full year recorded. In tlie following places, in Colorado, Dakota and Wyoming, tlie daily range of the thermometer over 20° has been calculated and placed in subdi- visions of 5°, from 20° upward to G0° ; and the same has been done for Asheville, for the years 1873 and 1874. (See table on page 5.) This table needs no commentary, but speaks for itself. Whilst the highest daily range at Asheville was but once in two years over 40° (and tlien only 41°), Colorado Springs shows the same range thirty-three times in less than one year ; Denver twenty- nine times in 1873, and thirty-one times in 1874, etc., and both run in decreasing number up to the high range of between 55° iim\ 60°. It is here necessary to state that in the extremely dry regions of Colorado and the Western territories crossed by the Rocky Mountains, the cold air and change of temperature are much less perceptible ; an observation which, to a certain ex- tent, is also made here. NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES OP THE DIURNAL RANGE IN in" M _. iC >^ 3 >, . aT « Diurual Range, iu a c3 CTi ;* T3 In" > 1 ^ CO r-1 < degrees, F. 2 2 s 3 2 a P 6 1873 1874 1873 74 1874 1873 1874 1873 1 1874 20^-25° 46 58 55 70 66 63 46 30 2o°-30° 47 59 68 49 80 71 83 28 18 30°-85° 53 59 77 43 51 G7 63 14 14 35°-40" 72 55 60 47 3G 34 50 1 4 40°-45° 33 29 31 18 16 16 26 1 45°-50° 19 G 11 4 6 4 5 SO^-SS" 3 1 1 1 55°-60° 2 1 • • Kecords of tlie other climatic elements in this region are 8cai'ce, and the fullest are those of the rain-fall, and its amount in inches for a period of several years, in Professor Kerr's re- port. We here learn thafof eighteen stations in the whole State, only one has a lower amount of rain-tall than Ashe- ville, viz : Greensboro, which shows hut 19.9 inches, whilst Asheville has 39.4, or as a mean of 8 years^ 40.2 inches. All stations of Western North Carolina have considerably more, ranging from 48.5 to 72.8 inches ; the average for the whole Avestern division being 58.2 inches. Our place, therefore, shows a very favorable ratio in comparison with the surrounding- country and the State in general. The pressure of vapor, its weight, the absolute humidity, have, to my knowledge so far, not been measured ; but the observations of daily life, the rapid drying of roads after a rain-fall, the conservation of meat hanging in the open air, etc.^ indicate but a small amount of moisture suspended in the air. The unusual rain-fall and general atmos- pheric conditions of this summer deprived researches into the relative humidity (saturation at 100) entirely of their value. Instituted only a short time, the mean of tliree observations for the time at which patients generally move about in the open air, viz: noon, 2 and 4.15 P. M., give for tbe month of October 50"2° and for the whole month G4^^ relative humidity.* If after these considerations, we regard the climate of this section as a whole, we find all the theoretical recjuirements of a mountain climate existing in their proper relation. It is not here in place to urge in detail the beneficial eifects of elevated regions on the large class of sufferers from pulmonary phthisis. *NoTE : Tbe average relative humidity for tbe first quarter of 1876 was 59.8". But as it is riot yet known and universally acknowledged that the decrease of the occurrence of phthisis is greatly dependent upon elevation ahove the sea-level, and the consequent lowei- barometric pressure of the atmos})here, it will not he out of the way to quote, from the extensive literature of this suhject, some i'ew works which may aid those wishing to make investiga- tions in this direction.* The practical a})plication of these theoretical researches, viz., the ti-eatraent of consumptives b}' a protracted sojourn in elevated places, is heing, and lias heen for some time past, carried out on a large scale in Eui'ope and other parts of the globe. According to a recent compilation, there ai'c now 123 mountain resorts in existence in Europe, at elevations Irom 1,500 to 4,000 feet and over. Our section has a great advan- tage over many European resorts, which are, without exception, situated in more northerly latitudes. Although phthisis is ob- served in countries with most heterogeneous temperature, it will nevertheless be in many cases desirable to send such patients to a locality of moderate therniometric range and extremes ; as .■ii: