METEOROLOGY. 473 



and tlie like. The majordomo said tins meteorite Lad, as lie had heard, fallen 

 liT»m the heavens, and had been brought I'rom a distance, I'roni a phice whore 

 other specimens also existed. Such we found to be the prevailing account of 

 this mass among the people of the place. 



I would state that from La Concepcion to the Eio Grande there is an excel- 

 lent road leading through Sakillo and Monterey, and, save in respect to its 

 Aveight, there w'ould be no diflicnlty in conveying this meteorite. I tliirdi, also, 

 that, being cautiously approached, the Mexicans would sell it for a reasonable 

 sum. The common carts of the country, with solid wooden wheels, could well 

 convey it. 



1 extract tlie foregoing partly from my own memoranda and partly from mem- 

 oranda of John W. Audubon, esquire, now deceased, who examined the speci- 

 men with me. 



At PaiTal are large works for reducing the silver ores, which are in great quan- 

 tity in its neighborhood. 



[It would appear, fi-om all the accounts we have had from this region, that a 

 shower of immense meteorites had occurred there at some remote period. — J. H.] 



TEE METEOROLOGY OF CARACAS, YENEZIELA, SOUTH AMERICA. 



By G. a. Ernst. 



The town of Caracas is situated in a small valley of the northern coast chain 

 of Venezuela, in latitude 10° 30' 50" north, and in longitude C6° 5 A' 51" west 

 of Greenwich. 



Its altitude above the level of the Caribl)ean sea, at Laguayra, was determined 

 August 23, 1866, from the following observations : 



At lower station, (wharf at Laguayra,) l)arometer 760"'™, attached thermometer 

 26°.0 C, thermometer in open air 26°. 7 C; latitude of Laguayra 10° 36' 15" 

 north ; at upper station, (Plaza Bolivar,) barometer 6S6.2'"'", attached ther- 

 mometer 21°. 7 C, thermometer in open air 21°. 7 0. Converting the above data 

 into English measm-e, w'e have 



Inch. 

 ^ =29.031* t =80.06 F. T =78.8 F. 



/Si=27.025 ^1 = 71.06 t1 = 71.06 



and by means of Baily's tables, (see ]\Ii4)mal of Scientific Enquuy, London, 1859, 

 p. 168,) we find the difference of elevation 2923.5 English feet. 



As far as 1 know there is no one at present engaged in this place in meteoro- 

 logical observations. Dr. Alexander Ibarra kept a joun^al for several years, 

 but it is now discontinued. With proper instruments, it would give me pleasure 

 to register the meteorological facts. My instruments were unfortunately broken 

 in an ascent to the Silla de Caracas, and I have not yet been able to replace 

 them with new and better ones. 



I copy from the *' Annuario de Obscrvacioncs de la Ofllcina Central del Colegio 

 de Ingenieros de Venezuela para el auo de 1862," the following meteorological 

 table for 1860, constructed from the observations of Dr. Ibarra. The original 

 record of the temperature is given in degrees of the Centigrade scale, and of the 

 atmospheric pressure in units of the French scale ; both were reduced to English 

 units, which are commonly used in the United States. For the reduction of the 

 barometric observations I would again refer to Appendix A. 



* See Appendix A. 



