24 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



4tb. The records of the United States Lake Survey under the 

 Engineer Department of the United States Army. 



5th. The records of the United States Coast Survey under the Treas- 

 ury Department. 



6th. The volumes compiled by Dr. F. B. Hough from observations 

 made under the direction of the Regents of the University of the State 

 of New York. 



7th. The records made in Pennsylvania under the direction of the 

 Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. 



8th. The transactions of various societies and periodical publications. 



All the material collected was first classified, and a series of tables of 

 temperature in detail constructed, and from these were deduced the con- 

 solidated tables of average temperature. The first of these series, owing 

 to its great bulk, must at present remain in manuscripts; it can, how- 

 ever, at any time be consulted at the Institution. The series of tables 

 which is now about to be published consists of average temi)eratures, 

 and is sufficient for the study of the climate of the United States gener- 

 ally, or for any particular part of it, as far as it depends upon tempera- 

 ture. The whole work was done under the superintendence of Mr. 

 Charles A. Schott, of the United States Coast Survey, who has also 

 given special attention to the revision of the accuracy of the computa- 

 tions. The character of Mr. Schott for scientific knowledge, sagacity, 

 and skill, as exhibited in the previous publications on meteorology by 

 the Institution, gives assurance that the present work on the temperature 

 is a valuable contribution to knowledge. 



Perhaps the best idea of the character and extent of the work can be 

 given in a brief space by the following extract from the table of con- 

 tents : 



Section I. — General remarks and explanations of tabular results. 

 Special table of corrections for daily variation of temperature in each 



month and the year, for every hour and for various combinations of 



hours. 

 Tables of mean temperature for each month, season, and the year, at 



various stations, principally in North America. 

 Graphical representation and explanation of the isothermal charts. 

 Deductions from the charts of the distribution of the mean annual 



temperature, and of the distribution of the temperature during the 



winter and the summer seasons. 

 Section II. — Discussion of the daily fluctuation of the atmospheric tem- 

 perature. 

 Times of sunrise and sunset in difl'erent latitudes and for every tenth 



(lay in each month. 

 Tables of bi-hourly, houily, and semi-hourly mean temperatures for 



each month and the year at various places in North America. 

 Tables of differences from the mean of the day, of bi-hourly, hourly, and 



semi hourly mean temperatures for each month and the year. 



