CHP Ag BEE, Jaen. 
THE RAINFALL OF THE WESTERN PORTION OF 
THE UNITED STATES. 
The Smithsonian Institution conducted for a number of years an 
extensive system of measurements of rainfall in the United States, and at 
the same time diligently collected pluvial records from every possible 
source. The accumulated data thus collected were placed in the hands of 
Mr. Charles A. Schott for reduction and discussion, and he prepared the 
‘Smithsonian Tables of Precipitation in Rain and Snow”, which appeared 
in 1868. Since that time much additional material has been acquired by 
the continuation of the work to the present time, and also by a great 
increase in the number of observation stations, and so valuable is this new 
material that it has been determined to recompile the tables and issue a 
second edition. By the time the present report was called for, the prelim- 
inary computations for the tables had developed an important body of facts 
bearing on the climate of the Arid Region, and through the courtesy of 
Prof. Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and of Mr. 
Schott, they were placed at my disposal. Mr. Schott also made such a 
change in the order of computation as to give precedence to the states and 
territories which form the subject of this investigation, and by this timely 
favor made it possible to base the following discussion on the very latest 
determinations of rainfall. 
The results thus made available exhibit the mean precipitation at each 
station of observation west of the Mississippi River for each month, for each 
season, and for the year. A number of other data are also tabulated, includ- 
ing the latitude, longitude, and altitude of each station, and the extent of 
each series of observations in years and months. In selecting material for 
the present purpose the shorter records were ignored. The variations from 
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