283 PROFESSOR G. E. POSTj M.D. 



Lebanon. Many times heavy storms occur on the western 

 slopes of Lebanon^ while all is serene in Coele Syria, and on 

 the Damascus plain. The scene is very striking, when the 

 observer in Ccele Syria, or on the top of Antilebanon, sees the 

 dark cloud-masses roll threateningly from the west to the top 

 of Lebanon, and then dissolve in mist, which is in turn 

 dissipated by the clear sunshine of this torrid valley. The 

 same phenomenon may be observed, even in a more striking 

 manner, over the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. 

 The reason of the lesser rainfall in the regions east of the 

 coast range is to be found in the fact that the greater part of 

 the moisture is precipitated from the clouds while passing 

 over that range, and in the proximity of the great desert 

 which dries out the moisture that remains. 



The " early rain '' begins usually in September, In eight 

 out of the twelve Septembers noted, there was some rain ; 

 in one, only six-hundred ths of an inch. By the 10th or 

 15th of October, however, there has usually been a raia 

 sufficient to thoroughly cleanse the sui'face of the ground, 

 and to cause the dry watercourses to flow for awhile. In 

 eleven out of the twelve Octobers recorded there was rain, 

 often considerable in amount. The families who have taken 

 refuge in Lebanon from the summer heat of the sea-coast 

 plain expect and await this early I'ain, as the signal for their 

 return to their city homes. And these occur with sufficient 

 regularity to cause little variation in the annual home-coming. 

 The farmers also await this rain with assured confidence, as 

 it is essential to soften the soil, and enable them to plough the 

 ground, and put in the seed, before the heavy continuous 

 rains from the latter part of December to the middle of Mai'ch, 

 when it would be impossible to do this work. A distinct 

 bi*eak of a month or more, often with no rain, or slight 

 showers, intervenes between the first copious rain and the 

 setting in of the rainy season. The " latter rain '' is rather a 

 gradual lessening of the quantity of water, and increase in the 

 intervals between the showers, than a rain coming after a long 

 interval, in the manner of the early rains. The tables show a 

 gradual tapering off from March to May, after which there 

 is practically no rain until September or October. In one 

 summer of the twelve only was there but one month without 

 rain, usually three, and sometimes five. Practical immunity 

 from danger of showers in travelling exists for seven months. 

 In the heavily-wooded Amanus range showers occur all through 

 the summer. 



As regards the manner of the rain, the greatest difference 

 exists between those seasons when the water comes down 



