CLIMATE, FLORA, AND FAUNA 51 



and two. There is but one record of snow having fallen 

 in Cuba; this was in 185G. 



At Havana, in July and August, the warmest months, 

 the average temperature is 82 F., fluctuating between 

 a maximum of 88 and a minimum of 76. The highest 

 temperature recorded in Havana for ten years was 100, 

 or four degrees less than the highest of Washington city 

 for the same period. In the cooler months of December 

 and January the thermometer averages 72, the maximum 

 being 78, the minimum 50. The average temperature of 

 the year at Havana, a mean of seven years, is 77 ; but 

 in the interior, at elevations of over 300 feet above the sea, 

 the thermometer occasionally falls to the freezing-point in 

 winter, hoar-frost is not uncommon, and during north 

 winds thin ice may form. The maximum temperature is 

 reached between noon and two o'clock in the afternoon, 

 and the minimum between dawn and sunrise. The average 

 diurnal range of temperature is about 10. 



For Matanzas, on the coast, about fifty miles east of 

 Havana, there is a record for two years, beginning in 

 August, 1832, and ending in July, 1833, and again begin- 

 ning in January, 1835, and ending with December of the 

 same year. From this record the mean annual temperature 

 at Matanzas appears to be about 78. The highest tem- 

 perature is recorded as 93, and the lowest as 51. 



At Santiago, on the extreme southeast coast, the tem- 

 perature is apparently higher than on the northern and 

 western coasts, and from the meager data available appears 

 to be about 80, with an average difference between the 

 warmest and coldest months of about 6 F. A very short 

 fragment of a record of temperature has been found for 

 Trinidad de Cuba, about midway on the southern coast, 

 giving the average temperature from December, 1851, to 

 March, 1852, for the hours of 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 7 p. m., as 

 72.8, 78.7, and 75.3 F., respectively ; and the observer 

 remarks that during that period the highest temperature 

 recorded was 81, and the lowest G4.5 F., and the greatest 



