78 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 63 



The minimum temperature at Saranac Lake for 19 12 was — 32° 

 F. on January 25, and the maximum was 88° F. on July 10. The 

 mean temperature was 40.98° F. The total precipitation was 43.19 

 inches, with a total snowfall of 124.24 inches. Clear days, 153 ; 

 partly cloudy, 'j'] \ cloudy, 136. 



The extract here reproduced from a letter dated Saranac Lake, 

 July, 1886, is interesting-. It was addressed to the author. 







The best and clearest statement of seasonal influence on body 

 weight of consumptives that we know of was made by Dr. N. B. 

 Burns, of the North Reading State Sanatorium, Massachusetts. His 

 observations are based on one thousand patients during three years. 

 Fully forty per cent of the cases admitted to this sanatorium were of 

 the far advanced and progressive type. It was noted that August, 

 September and October show that the largest percentage of patients 

 gaining, while the three months immediately preceding show the 

 opposite. 



Dr. Burns also charted the aggregate gain in pounds of the male 

 patients treated at North Reading, December, 1911 to 1912, inclusive. 

 There was a rise in January and February, 191 2, to 850 pounds for 

 76 patients which was maintained well through March and April. 



