February, and highest in September. The temperature varies most in winter and least in summer. The atmospheric pressure oscillates most in winter and least in summer. The coldest day was February 14, 1856, and the hottest September 5, 1854. The barometer was the lowest March 24, 1852, and the highest January 8, 1855. More rain falls in May than in any other month, and less in February than in any other; but most rain falls in summer and least in winter, computed by seasons. It will be seen that rain has fallen, on an average, 104.3 and snow 32.6 days annually. The greatest fall of rain was 57.28 inches in 1847, the least, 28.02, in 1839. There has not been any one month without rain. The quantity of rain during the year does not always indicate the supply for the promotion of vegetation. In 1854, the entire fall of water was 30.11 inches; yet the fall from May 1st to October 1st was only 10.37 inches, and that in very light showers; and the temperature was very high, and almost constantly a cloudless sky. In 1839, the entire fall was 28.02 inches only, of which 15.95 inches fell in the five growing months. The temperature was below the average for the season, and the sun more than usual obscured by stratus. In 1854, in this section of country, crops were in great measure cut off by drought. In 1839 vegetation was vigorous. The difference in the temperature of years has been very slight. The lowest was 489.7 in 1856, and the highest, 540.7 in 1854, the difference being six degrees. The average for twenty-nine years is 510.9. Alexander von Humboldt, in his "Cosmos," Vol. I. p. 324, lays down the general rule that a country, to produce a potable wine (from the grape) should have a mean annual temperature above 490, a winter temperature above 330, and a summer temperature above 64°. If, as I suspect, the great observer contemplated the year in two parts only, the winter here, counting October and March, rises to 379.5, and the summer to 660.2. Probably the variety of grape may influence results. We do make a wine from grapes grown in the Ohio valley between Pittsburg and Marietta, which compares favorably with much foreign wine; and with more care and experience in the manufacture, and the ripening influences of age, will supplant them all, and, it is to be hoped, the noxious distilled liquors also. When I commenced preparing this article, I had thoughts of attempting, from a mass of materials at my command, the outlines of a series of isothermal lines covering the North American continent. It could have been but outlines, mere dots here and there, the connecting links to be filled up by those having more materials or by future observers. The subject of isothermal lines is one of great complexity. We know that they do not conform to the parallels of latitude. We know that they are influenced by parallels of altitude, by the relations of land and water, by the general course of the winds, especially whether on or off the land, and the amount of vapor borne by the winds. We have also reason to suspect the influences of some other causes. But the effect due to each, whether their action is uniform or subject to change, whether they always sustain, or sometimes sustain, and under other circumstances counteract each other, are problems not yet ready for solution. On the western coast of England twice as much rain falls as on the eastern, the vapors borne from the Atlantic by the western winds being deposited in their passage over the land. The temperature is lower on the east than on the west coast. On the other hand, the annual fall of rain on the east coast of North America, taking several points between 43° 40′ and 41° 50' N. lat, is not far from 50 inches; and on the west coast it will not exceed 17 inches. I need not say the temperature is much lower on the east than on the west coast in the same latitude and at the same elevation. The difference is not less than 12 degrees, yet the summer months at Providence, Rhode Island, and at Sacramento, California, differ little in temperature. The difference is perhaps due, in a great measure, to the 20 inches of rain which falls in the first, and one inch in the last, with the consequent difference in the obscurity of the atmosphere. The isothermal lines drawn on Colton's meteorological map, so far as respects North America, are in great measure conjectural, and in some parts inaccurate. A complete set of isothermal lines for the United States should be the work of some one of the scientific boards in the employ of government. ROSWELL MARSH. IX. FLOWERING OF FRUIT-TREES IN 1860. †The fig and orange trees destroyed by the severe frosts in December, 1859. April 16 April 10 April 20 1859-60. X. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE FOR SACRAMENTO, CAL. For the Year ending March 31st, 1860. Lat. 38° 34′ 41" N., Long. 1210 27' 44" W. Elevation above the level of the sea, at the Levee in front of the city, 39 feet. Height of the lower surface of the mercury, 41 feet above the level of the sea at San Francisco. By THOMAS M. LOGAN, M. D. graph. Maximum, Minimum, Thermometro inch inch inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch inch inch. inch inch. inch. 30.37 30.17 30.21 30.07 30.08 30.13 30.27 30.33 30.37 30.37 30.60 30 33 30.274 29.70 29.74 29.60 29.75 29.73 29.72 29.69 29.79 29.79 29.80 29.79 29.79 29.741 30.00 29.98 29.84 29.92 29.89 29.93 29.94 30.04 30.17 30.14 30.14 30.05 30.003 O о O 76.00 30.00 96.00 87.00 85.00 $2.00 83.00 68.00 53.00 56.00 65.00 64.00 74 58 40.06 53.00 61.00 60.00 53.00 56.00 49.00 42.00 34.00 37.00 37.00 39.00 47 17 57.11 63.03 74.85 69.07 67.16 65.89 63.28 54.05 43.52 46.20 49.83 53.00 58.92 78.00 $4.00 102.0 92.00 89 00 85.00 87.00 70.00 54 00 56.00 66.00 65.00 77.33 36 00 15 00 51.051.00 52 00 50.00 43.00 37.00 28.00 32.00 32.00 34.00 40 92 42.00 39.00 51.0 41.00 37.00 35.00 44.00 33.00 26.00 24.00 34.00 31 00 36.41 Force of Vapor. inch inch inch inch inch inch. inch. inch inch inch inch inch inch. Range, Maximum, Minimum, Mean, Relative Hu .524 .522 .942 .677 .564 .581 .524 .529 .334 .405 .376 .439 .535 .133 136 296 .338 .350 .226 .186 .189 .087 .178 .097 .173 .199 .321 .363 .503 .469 .451 .410 .367 .347 .230 .262 .258 .316 .358 p. ct p. ct. pct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. 87.00 32.00 82.00 77.00 82.00 84.00 85.0094 00 92 00 94.00 92 00 93.00 87.00 30.00 19.00 18.00 36.00 29.00 25.00 32 0051.0030 00 54 00 28.00 53.00 33.75 68.90 64.81 59.51 66.95 68.68 65.61 64.41 82.32 30 30 82.86 72.10 76.90 0.981 1.037 0.000 0.030 0.000 0.025 0.000 6.485 1.834 2.310 0.931 5.110 18.743 1 13 7 103 7 143 12 113 31 901 26 242 4 10 133 26 20 17 0 2 0 16 5 15 1 9725 532 34 0 2 REMARKS.-The observations are made three times a day, conformably with the hours adopted by the Smithsonian Institution. The readings of the Barometer are given corrected for capillary action, and reduced to 320 Fahrenheit, but are not corrected to level of the sea. The rainy days are included under the head of cloudy and foggy, and are also put separately to show the number of days on which rain fell during each month. The last rain of the season of 1858-59 occurred on the 23d of May. The first rain of 1859-60 occurred on the 4th of July; but the regular rainy season did not set in until the 3d of September. The winter was severer than that of the preceding, not only as regards intensity of cold and its long persistence, but also the amount of rain. The first frost was seen on the 17th of October; and although the usual manifestations of spring, in the flowering of the willow, peach, buttercup, &c., were seen towards the last of February, still vegetation was checked by the return of cold weather, and the frondescence of the first-named tree was not completed until the 10th of April. The last frost occurred on the 12th of May, 1860. As the most important feature of these meteorological observations, from a practical point of view, lies in the periodical rains of California, we have compiled a table of the last eleven rainy seasons, brought down to the date of mailing this manuscript, viz. July 4th, 1860, by which it will be seen that the agriculturist cannot depend with any certainty upon the rains alone, but must be prepared to supply their deficiency, whenever it occurs, by irrigation. It is proper to add, that the monthly amounts of rain prior to January, 1853, have been estimated and computed according to the most reliable information that can now be obtained, and are not wholly the result of our own positive admeasurements. 2. TABLE OF RAINS AT SACRAMENTO, CAL., Arranged according to the seasons, showing the Amount, in inches, of each month during Eleven Years; also the Mean Quantity for each month of the year during that period, and the Mean Annual Amount of Rain. Months. '49-50 50-1. '51-2. '52-3. '53-4. '54-5. '55-6. '56-7. '57-8. '58-9. '59-60. Mean. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. July, 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.012 0.000 0.030 0.004 August, 0.000 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.000 sprin. 0.000 0.000 sprin. sprin. 0.000 0.002 Septem., 0.250 0.000 1.000 0.000 0.003 sprin. sprin. sprin. 0.000 sprin. 0.025 0.116 October, 1.500 0.000 0.180 0.000 0.005 1.010 0.000 0.195 0 655 3 010 0.000 0.596 Novem., 1.250 sprin. 2.140 6.000 1.500 0.650 0.750 0.651 2.406 0.147 6.485 2.089 Decem., 12.500 sprin. 7.070 13.410 1.540 1.150 2.000 2.396 2.632 4 339 1.831 4.443| January 4 500 0.650 0.580 3.000 3.250 2.670 4.919 1.375 2.444 0 964 2.310 2.424 Februa.. 0 500 0.350 0.120 2.000 8.500 3 460 0.692 4 801 2 461 3.906 0.931 2.520 March, 10.000 1.880 6.400 7.000 3:250 4 200 1.403 0.675 2.878 1.637 5.110 4.039 April, 4.250 1.140 0.190 3.500 1.500 4.320 2.132 sprin 1.214 0.981 2.874 2.827 May, 0 250 0 690 0.300 1.450 0210 1.150 1.841 sprin. 0.203 1.037 2.491 0.875 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.310 0.010 0.033 0.350 0.098 0.000 sprin. 0.073 June, Totals, 36.000 4.710 18.000 36.361 20.069 18.620 13 770 10.413 15 00316 021 22.090 20.008 XI. RAIN AT POWHATAN HILL, KING GEORGE CO., Va. Rain in 6 months, 14.375 inches. Days on which rain fell, 49. Heavy Rains from July, 1859, to July, 1860. The fall of rain in May has exceeded that of any month in the last ten years. In July, 1850, there fell 6.33 inches; June, 1859, 6.13; July, 1857, 6.085; August, 1852, 6.045; April, 1852, 5.59; December, 1857, 5.43; May. 1858, 5.145; August, 1856, 5.035. Snow. -1859, Dec. 30th, 1 inch. 1860, Feb. 1st, 3 inches: 15th. inch 18th, 1 inch. Frost. 1859, Oct. 11th and 16th. 1860, April 7th, 12th, 14th, 25th, and 30th." Ice.-1859, Oct. 21st, a skim; 22d, do.; Dec. 12th, 2 inches; 26th, 3 inches. 1860, Jan. 2d, 4 inches; 3d, 4 inches; 4th, 5 inches: 6th, 7 inches; Feb. 2d, therm. 40 below zero; 10th, ice 4 to 5 inches; March 10th and 11th, a skim; 14th to 16th, do. ; 21st to 28th, do.; April 2d, do. |