152 



HUMBOLDT'S CUBA. 



excellent observations made through four years, is 

 25°.7 centigrade (78°.25 Fahrenheit), being only 2° 

 C. (3°. 6 F.) lower than that of the regions of 

 America under the equator. The proximity of the 

 sea increases the mean temperature of the coasts, but 

 in the interior of the island, where the northern 

 winds penetrate with equal force, and where the 

 land has the slight elevation of 250 feet, the mean 

 temperature does not exceed 23° C. (73°.4 F.), which 

 is not greater than that of Cairo and all Lower Egypt. 



The difference between the mean temperature of 

 the hottest month and that of the coldest is 12° 0. 

 (21°.6 F.) in Havana, and 8° C. (14^.4 F.) in the 

 interior, while at Cumana, it is barely 3° 0. (5°.4 

 F.) July and August, which are the hottest 

 months attain in Cuba a mean temperature of 28°. 8 

 C. (83°.8 F.), and perhaps even 29°.5 0. (85°. 1 F.) ? 

 as under the equator. 



The coldest months are December and January; 

 their mean temperature is 17° C. (62°. 6 F.) in the 

 interior of the island, and 21° 0. (69°.8 F.), in 

 Havana, that is, from 5° C. to 8° C. (9° F.), (14°.4 

 F.) less than during the same months under the 

 equator, but yet 3° 0. (5°.4 F.) higher than that of the 

 hottest month in Paris. 



As regards the extremes touched by the centigrade 

 thermometer in the shade, the same fact is observed 



