402 RANGE OF THE BAROMETER IN ECUADOR, appendix. 



B.— THE RANGE OF THE BAROMETER IN ECUADOR. 



The remarkable stability of the barometer in Ecuador has been frequently- 

 noticed. It seems to have been first publicly pointed out by La Condamine, 

 who said that, at Quito, he found the greatest difference (during a year ?) 

 hardly exceeded a line and a half/ This amount is equal to 0*133 of an 

 English inch. 



Shortly before my departure for Ecuador, M. Boussingault presented a 

 Memoir to the French Academy of Sciences ^ dealing with this subject, and 

 quoted 2 "11 millimetres as the (mean ?) diurnal variation at Quito. My 

 movements were too rapid to permit of a series of observations at any one 

 point to determine the daily range, or the periodical variations, and circum- 

 stances did not allow me even upon a single occasion to read the barometer 

 for twenty-four consecutive hours. But so far as my observations extended 

 they supported or confirmed previous reports respecting the small range of 

 the barometer in this country. The greatest difference I observed in any 

 one day in the interior was 0*134 of an inch, at Riobamba, on June 24, 

 1880 ; and the greatest at the level of the sea was 0*092 of an inch, at 

 Guayaquil, on July 18, 1880. The violent storms which often raged seemed 

 to affect the barometer scarcely, if at all, and the variations in the height of 

 the mercurial column were as much due to differences in the air tempera- 

 ture as to any alterations in pressure. 



The highest readings recorded by Mr. Chambers at Guayaquil (30 feet 

 above sea level) were : — 



In Dec. 1879 (max. of obs. on 16 days) 29*970 inches. 



„ Jan. 1880 ( ,, „ 



„ Feb. ,, ( 



,, Mar. ,, ( 



„ April ,, ( 



,, June ,, ( 



,, July ,, ( 



The above readings are reduced to 32° Faht. 



J " Nous avons eprouve a Quito pendant des annees entieres, que sa plus grande 

 difference ne passe guere une ligne et demie. M. Godin a le premier remarque que ses 

 variations, qui sont a peu pres d'une ligne en vingt-quatre heures, ont des alternatives 

 assez regulieres, ce qui etant une fois connu, donne lieu de juger de la hauteur moyenne 

 du Mercure, par une seule experience." — Relation abregee d''un Voyage fait dans Vln- 

 terieur de VAmerique meridionale, par M. de la Condamine ; Paris, 8vo, 1745, pp. 21-23. 

 See also Journal du Voyage, etc., par M. de la Condamine ; Paris, 4to, 17.51, p. 109. 



2 A resume of this was printed in the Comptes Eendus, vol. 88, Nos. 23, 24 ; pp. 

 11.58-1165, 1240-1243, June 9 and 16, 1879, under the title Determination de la . hauteur 

 du mercure dans le barometre sous Vequateur ; amplitude des variations diurnes baro- 

 metriques a diverses stations dans les Cordilleres, par M. Boussingault. 



22 , 



) 29*910 



20 , 



) 29*971 



23 , 



) 29*921 



30 , 



) 29*959 



11 , 



) 29-943 



10 , 



) 29-925 



