CLIMATE. 109 



age. The average of December is 6.29 inches ; an addition of 

 fifty per cent, to that makes 9.44. We find that in five out 

 of the twenty-four years, December gives fifty per cent, 

 more than the average, and the next season shows that in seven 

 seasons it brought at least fifty per cent less than the average, 

 or less than 3.15 inches. 



The eighth column shows the number of seasons in which 

 the several months have brought either fifty per cent, more or 

 fifty per cent, less than the average, and as either is an ex- 

 treme, I find that most of the seasons are extreme in their 

 character. 



The ninth column shows the total number of rainy days in 

 twenty-four seasons, from July 1st, 1849, to June 30th, 1873. 



The tenth column shows the average, and the eleventh the 

 greatest number of rainy days in each month. 



The twelfth shows the number of months in twenty-four 

 years in which the number of rainy days has been under the 

 average. 



80. Drought and Flood. Floods usually come with more 

 than thirty inches of rain, and droughts witli less than sixteen 

 at Sacramento, the damage being dependent, to a certain ex- 

 tent, upon the distribution, as well as upon the amount, of the 

 rain. Thus, in a very wet season, if the moisture comes in nearly 

 equal quantities in each one of the sixteen or twenty weeks, 

 the streams do not rise so high as if ten or fifteen inches came 

 in one month. The flood seasons have been 1849-50, 1852-53, 

 1861-62, and 1867-68, or four in twenty-five years. 



The years of drought have been 1851, 1856, 1857, 1861, 

 1863, 1864, 1870, and 1871, or eight in twenty-five years. 

 There are two droughts to one flood, and every other year, on 

 an average, brings either a drought or a flood. 



81. Dryness of Air. The small amount of rain during 

 the winter, the entire want of it during the summer, the 

 warmth of the sun, and the great number of cloudless days, 

 render the climate a very dry one. As one consequence or 



