146 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1947 



Table 2. — Comparison of 19^3 and 19^6 rainfall; and maximum rains for short 



periods 



Table S.— Rainfall 19^6. 



Total number of hours of rain and amount in inches 

 for the daily 6-hour period 



Table 4 gives a summary and analysis of the 1946 rainfall for the 

 entire year and for the dry and wet seasons, both as to hours and days, 

 percentage of the total possible hours (if it rained every hour) , and 

 these data are signiJScant. With so much less rainfall in the dry 

 season, and particularly with so high a deficiency, the animals have 

 a hard time getting food. The peccary in the dry season is noticeably 

 thin — very different from his condition in the wet season when food 

 is more plentiful. The effects of moisture are profound. This strug- 

 gle for food is also reflected in the rate of reproduction in certain of 

 the mammals. A bad year, deficient in rainfall and in food, increases 

 the rate of reproduction, and conversely, a year of abundant rainfall, 

 an abundance of food, shows in some mammals a falling off in this 

 rate. 



