BTA l i: A.GBICULTURAL SOCIETY. 289 



small quantities and soon melts, but occasionally there is a heavy fall, that 

 for instance for the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth of December, 1879, 

 which was extremely heavy, measuring seventeen inches on a level. 



Most of the earthquakes that have heen noted occurred during the rainy 

 season; eighty occurred during actual storms, and four of these during 

 snow storms. It is interesting to observe further, that in nearly every 

 instance they have been preceded or followed by an easterly wind. 



JERUSALEM S ELEVATION. 



The elevation of the city of Jerusalem is 2,600 feet above the level of the 

 Mediterranean Sea. and the mean height of the barometer during twenty- 

 one years was 27.40 inches. The highest reading during this period was 

 27.82 inches; the lowest reading 2<'>. ( .t7 inches, the range being .('>•'!. 



• 



COLD, HEAT, AND FROST. 



The coldest month in Jerusalem is February, the mean temperature 

 during the last twenty-two years being 47.9°. It rises month by month 

 until August, when the mean temperature has been 76°, and then sinks 

 again month by month until the following February; the mean annual 

 temperature during this period being (52.8°. The hottest days in the year 

 do not occur in August, but usually in May, June, and September. The 

 lowest temperature in twenty-two years was twenty-rive, on January 20, 

 1864. A minimum of thirty and thirty-two has been reached in February 

 and October, and once in April. These cases are, however, notable excep- 

 tions. 



In Jerusalem frost occurs five or six nights in the course of a Winter, 

 but ice is rarely ever formed. 



STORMY WINDS. 



A peculiar feature of the climate of Palestine is its stormy winds. Its 

 physical conformation has doubtless something to do with this. It is a 

 ridge of rugged mountains, running north and south, which drops to a broad 

 maritime plain on the west, and on the east to a deep chasm sunk into 

 the earth to a depth of thirteen hundred feet below the level of the Med- 

 iterranean Sea, beyond which chasm (which is the Jordan River Valley) 

 another ridge of mountains rises abruptly to a height equal to or greater 

 than that of the western ridge, and beyond this, in turn, a vast table land 

 stretches eastward to the Euphrates, and southward into Arabia. Both 

 the inhabitants of the country and its crops are largely affected by the 

 prevailing winds. The north wind is cold, the south warm, the east dry, 

 the west is moist. North and northwesterly winds prevail most in the 

 Summer months, when they are cool and refreshing, moderately dry, and 

 accompanied by a few or no clouds. The north winds of Winter are cold 

 and sharp. Their coolness and sharpness, even in Summer, are apt to 

 produce sore throat, fever, and dysentery. 



Without the strong westerly winds of Summer, the climate of Jerusalem 

 would be unbearable. Occasionally these winds do not blow for several 

 days in succession, and at such times the heat becomes very great. As 

 a rule this strong westerly breeze comes up every afternoon. It is felt at 

 Jaffa, and at other places on the coast, as early as nine or ten o'clock in 

 the morning, but it does not reach Jerusalem until from two to four o'clock 

 in the afternoon. Generally it subsides about sunset, but rises again dur- 

 19 90 



