ON THE METEOROLUUY OP SYEIA AND PALESTINE. 293 



but it was ;i place that in all essential respects served the purposes of an 

 observatory. 



The Chairman. — The question of the effect of forests upon climate is one 

 of very great importance. It is not Syria only that is suflFering from forest 

 denudation, for one constantly sees, in Provence and the Riviera, how 

 terribly the climate suffers from the cutting down of the timber, while the 

 mere work of keeping the soil on the slopes of the hills from being washed 

 down by the torrents of rain that occur in the wet season, is enormously in- 

 creased by the removal of the trees from the hill sides. The matter is one 

 of intense interest, all over the world, and even in Europe it is only being 

 taken up in time — if, indeed, it be in time. 



The meeting was then adjourned. 



THE AUTHOR'S REPLY. 



1. Equahilitii of the Climate of Syria and Palestine. 



Sir Joseph Father says, '* When we recall the physical condition of the 

 country, with its numerous valleys and mountain ranges, the mountains 

 rising from plateaux of 2,000 and 2,500 feet to 4,000 and 5,000 feet, and 

 even higher, with great deserts on the one side, and the sea on the 

 other, one would hardly expect to find a very equable climate." 



In point of fact, however, the climate is equable. Of course there is 

 a great difference between the temperature of the difterent elevations. Thus, 

 the standard, shade temperature of the summer months, at 10 a.m., is 

 between 82° and 88° F., at Beirut on the sea-coast. At a level of 2,500 to 

 3,000 feet on the maritime slope of Lebanon, the thermometer will range 

 from 73° to 80^, while at the former degree in Beirut. Day after day the 

 thermometer will register the same degree, at the same hour, i-n the same 

 place. And for months the range of variation hardly exceeds that expressed 

 by the above figures. As one rises to the higher regions of Lebanon and 

 Anti-Lebanon, the range of variation between day and night increases, owing 

 to the increasing nearness to the snow-drifts, which remain on the summit 

 through the year. But on the plains and the lower mountain levels, the 

 variation between day and night is very steady. Not having taken 

 thermometric observations in the night, I cannot say what is the exact 

 difference between the temperatures, but frequent journeys by night in all 



