PREFACE 



[to second edition.] 



When in 1870, the United States Signal Corps was charged with the meteoro- 

 logical service of the country, the direct and active part which the Smithsonian 

 Institution had previously taken in the establishment and development of meteoro- 

 logical observations and deductions — in conformity with its settled policy — was 

 relinquished by it, since, the important subject of meteorology being thus other- 

 wise adequately provided for, it no longer needed the special support of the Insti- 

 tution. 



In justice however to the numerous meteorologists, who for many years had 

 aided the Institution by their gratuitous labors, no less than for its own interests, it 

 was deemed desirable to publish the observations made and collected up to the time of 

 the transfer of the meteorological service to the office organized by the Greneral Gov- 

 ernment with special reference to it. 



In June, 1875, the late Secretary of the Institution, in letters addressed to Mr. 

 Charles A. Schott, had decided on a new edition of the Rain-Fall Tables, and author- 

 ized him to engage such assistance as was needed to carry out the plan proposed, viz : 

 to include all the material derived from the direct labors of the Institution, together 

 with all the accessible material from other sources up to the time of preparation for 

 the press. 



The work of collecting, arranging, and discussing the observations was prosecuted 

 up to the time of the decease of the late Secretary of the Institution, and, after a 

 brief interruption, was completed under my direction. 



The new tables have been enriched with the addition of eight years of observa- 

 tions, from the beginning of 1867 to the end of 1874, for the greater portion of the 

 stations, and in some instances include observations to the end of 1876. The general 

 results of the graphical distribution of the rain-fall are exhibited on five charts, which 

 were constructed between April and June, 1880 ; these are of the same size as the 

 corresponding ones illustrating the distribution of the Atmospheric Temperature in 

 the United States, published by the Institution in 1876, but, as a necessary feature, 

 the principal mountain systems have been added to them. These charts will thus 

 facilitate the intercomparison of these two elements of meteorology. 



(VII) 



