186 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



well as at San Francisco, that I would like to notice an analysis of 

 the rain tables, which has led me to the inference, that a very high 

 class of scientific inquiry should be entered upon, to investigate more 

 thoroughly than ever before done, the physical laws that appear to 

 regulate a certain observed periodicity of our dry seasons, and nearly 

 the same aggregates of rainfall during the cycles of the rain years, 

 as they may be called, to distinguish them from the comparatively 

 dry seasons. The details upon this matter will be subjoined. Before 

 the present storm, much uneasiness was felt lest this season might be 

 as dry and disastrous, as the season from September, 1863, to Septem- 

 ber, 1864, which only gave us 7.87 inches rainfall, being the lowest 

 on record, excepting the season of 1850-51, shown in the tables as only 

 4.71 inches. In passing it ought to be noticed that 4.71 inches must 

 have been below the actual rainfall. Dr. Logan had not reached the 

 State until a later period, but entered such facts as he could collect. 

 There are living witnesses, however — N. D. Goodell and others— who 

 noted quite heavy rains in September, 1850, and they are reported in 

 the Record-Union, February 13, 1882. The item gives a long list of 

 rains in 1850, which should be looked into by your Society, with a 

 view of determining about what rectification the table in that year 

 needs. It is too long for me to transcribe, but none the less impor- 

 tant. A discussion had been going on, and the article is entitled, 

 "Settled^ — There certainly was an inch or hvo of rain in September, 

 1850." To proceed, however, the fears for this season, partly arose 

 from rather light rains before the new year, or only 2.92 inches. 

 That, however, alone, was not a legitimate cause of fear at all, for the 

 annual tables show thirteen years of light rains, or less than three 

 and one half inches before new year, and only five of them are 

 claimed as being whole dry seasons, while one of them ran over 

 twenty-one inches. And this season, although but 2.92 inches of rain 

 fell before the new year, it was well distributed: 0.90 inches in Sep- 

 tember, 0.97 inches in October, 0.61 inches in November, and 0.44 

 inches in December, enabling considerable early sowing to be done, 

 and the ground was kept mellow in the valley by protracted fogs, and 

 what north winds we may have had were light. But the five dry 

 seasons have been noted to have occurred at intervals of six, seven, 

 seven, six years; and General Bid well and others confirm that 1843-4 

 was a dry year also, which links seven years back from 1850-1, and 

 points to the completion of another seven years forward, in the present 

 season of 1883-4; a total uninterrupted period of forty years expe- 

 rience; which Sergeant Barwick noted on receipt of General Bidwell's 

 confirmation of the dry season of 1843-4, while seven years back from 

 the present, or the season of 1876-7, gave us only 8.96 inches rainfall. 

 As the whole subject of periodical dry seasons and cycles of rainfall 

 are considered in another place, I will now proceed to some other 

 matters. 



In passing I would like to remark that Dr. Logan's mode of making 

 the rain table, from 1849-50 to 1864-5, inclusive, was preferable in 

 some respects to the present mode of the Signal Service, because the 

 Winter months being under each other, were much easier added up — 

 in fact, there was a time that that portion was so added up in the 

 table to the first of January, which was still better. Such compari- 

 sons are valuable for reference, and they need to be seen clearly. I 

 admit that it will be said that there were then only fourteen years 

 running on in line, while there are now thirty -four or thirty-five 



