METEOROLOGY. 181 



gales, hurricanes, and thunder storms are felt, that could disturb the 

 equilibrium of the atmosphere. 



Besides the two registers and the hourly observations, I have copied 

 for you and inclosed the thermometrical observations for 12 months in 

 1854 and 1855. These have been taken with my old thermometer, 

 which proves to be from 1^ to 5 degrees too high, as compared with 

 the Smithsonian thermometer. Although this would make the mean 

 temperature of the year about 3 degrees too high, we are still enabled 

 to make some comparisons between the different months, which show 

 that from August the mean monthly temperature is gradually sinking 

 till January, which is the coldest month. After January it rises 

 again till May, and then sinks till July. This seems to inlicate that 

 the rising and falling of the mean temperature keeps equal pace with 

 the declination of the sun. If we now compare the means of the dif- 

 ferent hours of the day of each month, we find that the highest tem- 

 perature of the day is not at 2 or 8 p. m., as in the United States, but 

 at 12 o'clock at noon, and that the temperature at 3 p. m. is but a 

 fraction greater than that at 9 a. m. In five months of the year it is 

 nearly or quite the same with that at 9 a. m., viz: from November 

 till March, inclusive; during the other part of the year, from May 

 till September, inclusive, the mean temperature is higher at 3 p. m. 

 than at 9 a. m., with the exception of October and April, where the 

 temperature at 3 is even lower than that at 9 ; and these are the two 

 months which follow immediately after the equinoxes. Another curi- 

 ous fact is the sudden rise of mean temperature from July to August. 

 In Santa Fe de Bogota, in 4° 35' north latitude, July is said to be 

 even the coldest month of the year. 



Some other facts could, no doubt, be drawn from this register by com- 

 parison, if its observations were founded upon a standard thermometer. 



On the last page of this register of Colonia Tovar you will find 

 some observations, taken with the same thermometer, of "'Barry," 

 during my stay at Chagres, on the Isthmus of Panama. 



During my absence from the colony last winter some persons here, 

 who can be relied upon, have seen white frost one morning. This is 

 of extremely rare occurrence, but anyhow very remarkable for the 

 latitude of 10° 26', even at the height of 6,500 feet. 



The characteristics of this region are its clouded sky, its equable tem- 

 perature, and its great amount of moisture. It is the '^' happy 

 region of the ferns," where these interesting plants find their most 

 suitable climate and grow in the greatest profusion. Here it is where 

 the stately tree-fern sometimes is seen to reach a height of 40 feet. 



The produce most profitable to raise in the colony are potatoes, rye, 

 and oats. The apple tree grows side by side with the banana. The 

 strawberry is found in the greatest abundance, spontaneously grow- 

 ing about the fields. Indian corn does not come to maturity here, 

 while I have seen it raised and matured in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 

 which is at least 700 feet higher than the colony, and besides this is 

 near 36° north latitude. But in New Mexico they have a cloudless sky 

 nearly the whole year round and an extremely dry atmosphere, while 

 the colonists of Tovar are not much molested from the beginning of 

 May to the beginning of January by the rays of the sun. 



