and the Distributmi of Heat over the Globe. 277 
47° to beds of the atmosphere equally elevated. This determi- 
nation is founded on stationary observations, and indicates the 
mean state of the atmosphere. General physics has its numeri- 
cal elements, as well as the system of the world ; and these ele- 
ments, so important in the theory of barometrical measurements 
and in that of refractions, will be perfected in proportion as na- 
tural philosophers shall direct their attention to the study of ge- 
neral laws. 
Height, 
in 
Equatorial Zone, 
from 0 ° 10 °. 
Temperate Zone, 
from 45° 47°. 
Metres. 
Feet. 
Mean 
Temp. 
DifF. 
Mean 
Temp. 
Diff. 
0 
974 
1949 
2923 
3900 
4872 
0 
3195 
6393 
9587 
12792 
15965 
8 L 50 
71.24 
65.12 
57.74 
44.60 
34.70 
10°.26 
6.12 
7.38 
13.14 
9.90 
S 3?60 
41.00 
31.64 
23.36 
12°60 
9.36 
8.28 
This Table proves, in conformity with the deductions of 
theory, that in the mean state of the atmosphere, the heat does 
not decrease uniformly in an arithmetical progression. In the 
Cordilleras, (and the fact is extremely carious), we observe the 
decrease getting less and less between 1000 and 3000 metres^ 
particulai’ly between 1000 and 2500 metres of elevation, and 
then increasing anew from 3000 to 4000 metres. The strata, 
where the decrease attains its maximum and its minimum^ are 
in the ratio of 1 to 2. From the height of the Caraccas to that 
of Popayan and Loxa, 1000 metres produce a difference of 6°. 3. 
From Quito to the height of Paramos, the same lOOO metres 
change the mean temperature more than 12°. 6. Do these phe- 
nomena depend only on the configuration of the Andes, or are 
they the effect of the accumulation of clouds in the aerial ocean ? 
In considering that the Andes form an enormous mass, 3600 
metres (11,808 feet) high, from which rise peaks or domes in- 
sulated and covered with snow, we may conceive how, from the 
point where the mass of the chain diminishes so rapidly, the 
heat decreases also with rapidity. It is not easy, however, to ex- 
