Florence—Climate
the E.S.E. side of the hills of Fiesole
some traces of a serpentine eruption
may be seen below the Castel di Poggio.
The plains of the Arno, of the Bi¬
senzio, and Ombrone, are composed of
a modern alluvial deposit. No portion
of the marine Pliocene beds, so abun¬
dant in the Val d’Arno di Sotto, ap¬
pears to have extended into the middle
valley of Florence : hence it is reason-
able to conclude that the latter,
hemmed in by the still barred-up pass
of the Gonfolina, formed an inner lake.
The city itself stands on the modern
alluvial deposits of the Arno.
Climate.—The situation of Florence
in the midst almost of a high moun¬
tain-chain, materially affects its climate,
producing vicissitudes of heat and
cold, much greater than might be ex¬
pected in so low a latitude; hence it
is subject to cold and piercing winds,
which descend through the valleys of
the Apennines, and from their sum¬
mits; generally covered with snow,
during the winter ; whilst at the oppo¬
site season its bowl-shaped valley
scarcely admitting any breeze from
the sea, renders it oppressively warm.
The mean temperature of Florence is
59°.5; the means of the coldest and
hottest months, January and August,
being 41½ and 77°. The transitions
from heat to cold are very consi¬
derable even during the same day
which renders it a bad residence for
persons suffering from pulmonary affec¬
tions. Equally to be avoided are the
transitions from situations where the
sun, shining brilliantly, produces an
artificial summer; and the dark, sun¬
less streets, which form so many
funnels for cold air, descending from
the gorges of the then glacial Apen¬
nines. Of all the causes leading to in¬
disposition here, perhaps none contri¬
butes so much as the latter during the
cloudless months of December, Janu¬
ary, and February
The climate of Florence offers, there¬
fore, perhaps more gradations fron
heat to cold than any other city in
Italy. It may be stated generally that
the months of September, October,
-Sanitary State.
and November are exceedingly agree-
able ; the latter, however, generally
ends with 10 days or a fortnight’s rain,
after which a cooler temperature com¬
mences, but with still clear weather
until the end of December. The early
part of January is often ushered in
with snow and sleet, followed in all the
month and during February by the
biting and penetrating Tramontana,
or north wind. March is windy and
cold, moderating after the equinox.
April, May, and the early part of June,
are very agreeable ; the second half, as
well as July and August, oppressively
hot, the thermometer in the shade
averaging 84°. During these summer¬
heats all foreigners ought to leave Flo¬
rence, or retire to a villa residence on
the hills around, where, although the
warmth during the day is fully as
oppressive, if not more so, than in the
city, the evenings, nights, and morn¬
ings are delightfully cool and pleasant.
The quantity of rain that falls in
Florence is considerable ; the greatest
quantity in autumn and early winter.
From the nature of the pavement and
improved drainage it soon finds its way
into the Arno ; there is consequently no
stagnant water in any part of the town.
In a sanitary point of view Florence
is much improved since the invasions
of the cholera in 1854 and 1855, not
only as regards drainage, but by the
forbidding of intramural interment,
except in some very rare cases. Until
the period in question the whole popu¬
lation, except the very poorer classes,
found their last resting-places in the
numerous churches and cloisters, the
burying-fees forming here, as in our
own country, a considerable item of
income to the clergy and monks, who
were abusively allowed to avail them-
selves of it, notwithstanding one of the
most well-judged laws of the Grand
Duke Leopold forbidding it. Drainage
has been extended, and will produce
still more beneficial effects when the
outfall is carried into the Arno below
the town. One great drawback under
which Florence labours is the inade¬
quate supply of water, and its bad
