S. Mis. 53. 25 



3. Tables of mean temperature at each ()!)scrvccl Ijour for the same 



periods and the same stations. 



4. Tables of the monlhly extremes of temperature, with llie range 



above and below the monthly mean, lijr the same periods and the 

 same stations. 



5. Collection of tables of temperature at diirercnt stations, observed 



for a series of years. 



6. Miscellaneous tables of temperature, not conforming entirely to 



either of the above divisions. 



The first class of tables embraces six hundred and seventy stations, 

 distributed over the entire continent, li-om the West Indies and jNIexico 

 to the Polar seas. 



The second class has a more limited range, and is generally confined 

 to the United States and its territories, as observed by the military 

 system, and that of the Smithsonian Institution, with a few stations in 

 Canada and the British possessions on this continent. 



The third class of tables is nearly the same in extcnit with the pre- 

 ceding, and for three complete years — 1850, 1851, and 1852. 



The fourth class is of the same extent and time. 



The fifth is a climatic arrangement of tables from various stations, 

 extending in continuous series over pericjds varying from live to sixty 

 years. 



Tables of Frcciintut'ion. 



1. Tables of distribution of precipitation in rain and melted snow for 



each month, season, and year, for 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852. 



2. General tables of preci})itati()n for a series ot years, containing the 



results of the preceding tables, with a general summary of all 



reliable and accessible observations of fall of rain on the North 



American continent. These tid^les give results from about four 



hundred stations, principally in the United States, its Territories, 



and the West Indies. 



3.' Irregidar tables and single series, extending over long periods, and 



where reliable observations have been made. 



A series of charts has been constructed to exhibit the distribulion 



of temperature on the North American continent, by isothermal lines ; 



and also anoth(>r series, illustrative of the distribution of precipitation 



for each month, season, and year of 1850, 1851, and 1852, and for 



the periods given in the general tables. It is proposed to present 



these resuks to Congress as a ])art of the annual report of the K,egrnts, 



and as the first fruit of the labors of the Smithsonian Institution on 



the subject of meteorology. 



Catalogue of Libraries — In addition to the preparation of the work 

 previously mentioned. Professor Jewett has continued his experiments 

 on the new process of stereotyping, to be used in his system of cata- 

 loguing. Much difficulty and delay have been experienced in the prose- 

 cution of these experiments, on account of the want of workmen to 

 construct the pecuUar apparatus rcquiicd. The services of an ingeni- 

 ous and skiltlil iutisan havc^ however, been secured, and the process is 

 now brought to sucii u state of completeness that it can be a])plied 



