CLIMATE. 



165 



jected to rapid evaporation of heat, and which was 

 deemed very cool, stood at 24r°.4 C. (75°.9 F.), while 

 the mean temperature of the air was 29°. 3 C. 

 (84°.7F.) 



A collection of many careful observations of the 

 internal heat of the earth on the confines of the tor- 

 rid zone, would be interesting. In the caverns of 

 the limestone formation, near San Antonio de Beita 

 (Cuba), and in the springs of the Chorrera river, I 

 have found it to be between 22° and 23° 0. (71°.6 

 and 73°.4F.), and Senor Ferrer observed it at 

 24 0 .4C. (75°.9F.) in a well one hundred feet deep. 

 These observations, which perhaps have not been 

 made under advantageous circumstances, show a 

 temperature of the earth much lower than that of 

 the air, which is seen to be 25°.7 C. (78°.3F.) at 

 Havana, and 23° C. (73°.4: F.) in the interior of the 

 island, at an elevation of 255 feet. These results do 

 not conform with observations made at other places 

 in the temperate and glacial zones. Do the very 

 deep currents which carry the water of the poles 

 towards the regions of the equator, diminish the in- 

 ternal temperature of the earth in islands of narrow 

 breadth ? We have treated this delicate question in 

 relating our experience in the caverns of Guacharo, 

 near Caripe. It is stated that in the wells of Kings- 

 ton, Jamaica, and the low lands of Guadalupe, the 



