THE WEST-AMERICAN SCIENTIST. 



23 



Meteorological Data compiled from 13 years observations at San Diego, Cal, 

 including the year 1884. 





TEMPERATURE 



MONTHS 



RELATIVE 

 HUMIDITY 



RAINFALL 



SEASONS 



AVERAGE 

 FOR 



MAXIMUM 

 OF EACH 



MINIMUM 

 OF EACH 



AVERAGE 

 FOR 



Av'rge 

 of each 

 Month 



Total 

 for 





M'nths 



Seas' n. 



M'nths Seas'n. 



M'nths Seas'n. 



M'nths 



Seas'n. 



Seas'n. 



Spring 



55.7 

 57.7 

 61.0 



64.4 

 67.1 



68.7 



66.8 

 62.9 

 58.3 



58.1 

 66.7 

 62.7 

 54.4 



99.0 

 87.0 

 94.0 



*99.0 



94.0 



101.0 



82.6 



38.0 

 39.0 

 45.4 



38.0 

 51.0 

 38.0 

 32.0 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September . . 



October 



November. . . 



December. . . 



January 



February . . . 



75.5 

 73.0 

 73.6 



74.0 

 76.0 

 71.8 

 71.3 



1.38 

 0.84 

 0.41 



0.07 

 0.02 



0.28 



0.04 

 0.49 

 0.61 



2.41 

 1.81 

 2.61 



2.63 



Summer 



Autumn . . . 



94.0 



• 86.0 



91.5 



101.0 

 92.0 



85.0 



82.0 

 78.0 

 82.6 



51.0 

 54.0 

 54.0 



49.5 

 44.0 

 38.0 



32.0 

 32.0 

 35.0 



74.2 

 76.6 



77.2 



76.3 

 72.0 

 67.1 



69.2 

 70.6 

 74.1 



0.37 

 1.14 



Winter .... 



55.1 

 53.7 

 54.3 



6.83 



Annual 

 Average. 



60.5 



HIGHEST 

 *101.0 



LOWEST 



32.0 





73.3 



10.97 



The Average Relative Humidity between sunrise and sunset is about 9 per 

 cent, lower than recorded in above table. Prevailing direction of wind is West. 



CASTOR OIL PLANT. 



The castor oil plant of com- 

 merce is obtained from the nuts 

 of Biennis communis, a euphor- 

 biaceous plant supposed 'to be a 

 native of Barbary but now widely 

 naturalized in Africa, the sonth of 

 Europe and America. The oil is 

 a mild purgative, but the entire 

 plant possesses active properties. 

 The ancients administered the 

 seeds entire but their variable ac- 

 tion, producing sometimes fatal 

 effects, led to their disuse. 



Castor oil is much used in ori- 

 ental countries and the south of 

 Europe for burning, as well as a 

 medicine, and its manufacture is 

 actively carried on at St. Louis the 

 beans being produced in southern 

 Illinois. The method of extracting 



the oil is simple the product equals 

 about one-third of the seeds em- 

 ployed, and when of a good qual- 

 ity is a thickish fluid of a very pale 

 yellow color. 



The castor plant is naturalized 

 to a considerable extent in the vi- 

 cinity of San Diego, where it 

 forms a fair sized shrub equal to 

 any of the indigenous plants and 

 its cultivation in the future may 

 furnish another profitable indus- 

 try for southern California. 



*An unusual degree of temper- 

 ature continuing less than two 

 hours, and due, no doubt, to for- 

 est fires, which were raging at the 

 time in the vicinity of San Diego. 



