PREFACE 



[to first edition.] 



The following memoir contains in tabulated form the abstracts of all the records 

 of observations of the rain-fall which have been made from the early settlement of 

 this country down to the close of the year 1866, so far as they could be obtained. 

 These records are from about one thousand two hundred stations, and consist of the 

 observations made under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, (assisted since 

 1854 by the Patent OfBce and Department of Agriculture,) of those by the Medical 

 Department of the United States Army, of those by the United States Survey of the 

 North and Northwest Lakes, of those made by the New York University System, by 

 the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, and also of those by other scientific institu- 

 tions and individuals. For a more definite account of the various sources of informa- 

 tion we would refer to subsequent pages. It is proper, however, that we should here 

 express our obligations for the valuable co-operation of the Medical Department of 

 the Army under Surgeon-General Barnes, who has given us free access to all the 

 unpublished records, and also for that of the Department of Agriculture under the 

 Commissioner, General Capron. 



These materials were placed in the hands of Mr. Charles A. Schott, of the United 

 States Coast Survey, whom we had previously engaged in the reduction and discussion 

 of the observations of Kane, Hayes, McClintock, and others, which have been pub- 

 lished from time to time in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. The tables 

 which were prepared as the basis for future study are in themselves of much utility 

 in regard to the practical knowledge which they afford of the special climatology of 

 the United States, while the deductions which have been drawn from the discussion 

 of the facts presented in these tables, and which are principally expressed in the maps 

 of the distribution of the rain-fall, are intimately connected with the agriculture, 

 commerce, and mechanical industry of the country, while they constitute a valuable 

 contribution to the physical geography of the globe. 



The aim was to collect information on the rain-fall fi'om all sources of observa- 

 tion, whether published or in manuscript, but the eifort could only be aproximately 

 successful, since, however diligent may have been the search, much must remain undis- 



December, 1871. ( V ) 



