300 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



the mean temperature of the hottest and coldest 

 months is from 22° to 25" Fahr., while in the middle 

 states of the northern continent the difference is nearly 

 twice as great — from 40^ to 45°. The mean summer 

 temperature is here about the same as in places six 

 or eight degrees farther from the equator in eastern 

 North America. The rainfall, which is of such vital 

 importance to agriculture, appears not to be subject 

 to such great annual irregularities as it is in the 

 United States and Canada. The average at Buenos 

 Ayres is about thirty-five inches annually, and in 

 ascending the Parana this increases to fifty-three 

 inches in Corrientes, and eighty inches in Paraguay. 

 It is only in some parts of the interior — e.g. about 

 Mendoza — and in Patagonia, that the cultivator 

 is, in ordinary seasons, exposed to suffer from 

 drought. 



Apart from the economic results of the great influx 

 of immigration, the large recent admixture of European 

 blood is effecting important salutary consequences. I 

 have seen no recent returns, but it appears * that in 

 the six years ending 1875, the number of immigrants 

 from Europe exceeded 284,000, or about 47,500 

 annually ; and I believe that this average has been 

 exceeded since that date. Of the whole number fully 

 one-half are Italians, and I found unanimous testi- 

 mony to the fact that they form a valuable element 

 in the population. With the exception of a small 



* Much information respecting this country is to be found in a volume 

 entitled, " The Argentine Republic," published in 1876 for the Cen- 

 tenary Exhibition at Philadelphia. It contains a series of papers pre- 

 pared by Mr. Richard Napp, assisted by several German men of 

 science. 



