THE ALPINE REGION. 



187 



region of the great lakes. The mean of the hottest week of 1872, taken 

 at 4h. 35m. P. M., was 90° F. The mean of the coldest week of 1872-3, 

 taken at 7h. 35m. A. M., was 25° F. 



The prevailing winds are from the southeast, and the mean velocity of 

 the movement of the atmosphere is much below the average for the 

 United States at large. In the frequency with which the region is 

 traversed by storm areas of say fifty miles in diameter, it ranks with the 

 lowest in the United States. With the more extensive region south of it, 

 it is peculiarly exempt from destructive storms. 



Blessed with an unusual number of clear days and a large amount of 

 sunshine, the fig tree thrives here without protection, at an elevation of 

 fifteen hundred feet above the sea. " The climate is less subject to sudden 

 changes than in the plain below. Vegetation is late, but when once fairly 

 begun, is seldom destroyed by subsequent frosts. Neither are there any 

 marks of trees being struck by lightning,* or blown up by storms." 

 (David Ramsay, Hist, of S. C.) 



The annual fall of water is over sixty inches, and this is, therefore, 

 among the regions of heaviest precipitation in the United States. For 

 spring, it is over eighteen inches, and for autumn, it is twelve inches, 

 which are also the maximum in the United States. In winter, it is six- 

 teen inches, which is less than the maximum, and in summer, it is four- 

 teen inches, which places it third in a series of five, or just medium. 

 Dewless nights rarely occur, and the luxuriant vegetation of this region 

 does not in consequence suffer from the rigor of extreme droughts so fre- 

 quent elsewhere. 



The following observations on the temperature of springs in this region 

 were made by Lieber : 



*lt is a saying in this region that " to pick the teeth with a splinter from a tree struck 

 by lightniug. will cure the toothache ; " the meaning being that such a splinter is not 

 to be had. 



