7S 
GEOLOGY OP NORTH CAROLINA. 
Maxima , Minima and Mange of Temperature . — The table pp. 76, 77, 
gives the average minimum temperature and the average maximum at a 
dozen stations where observations have been taken for the longest pe- 
riods and are most complete, or where the point of observation is of high 
representative value ; and also the means of the maxima and minima of 
the stations in each division of the State and the means for the whole 
State. Thus the lowest reading of the thermometer to be expected at 
Asheville in January is 10° and the lowest for the year 7° (in Decem- 
ber); the highest for January or December 63°; the highest for the 
year, 86° (in July). 
The lowest reading of all the stations is 4°, at Boone, (in Jan.), the 
highest 102°, in July, at Goldsboro. The lowest range of the ther- 
mometer for the eastern division of the State is seen to be 17°, and may 
be expected to be reached in Dec., for the middle 13°, and for the wes- 
tern 8°. 
The greatest monthly thermal range is found in the winter months, and 
the least in July, (the latter being about half as much as the former) ; the 
greatest seasonal range is in spring and autumn, and the least in summer. 
The average of the yearly therinometric range for the whole State is 
78° ; the greatest yearly range is found at Weldon, 91°, and the least at 
Beaufort, 70° ; no doubt Smithville gives still less. 
The extreme limits touched by the thermometer are often very differ- 
ent in regions of the same, annual temperature. The most marked char- 
acteristic of littoral and insular climates is exhibited in the diminution of 
A 
the thermal range, — the approximation of the maxima and minima, of 
the January and July temperatures, the elimination of wide, as wellasof 
sudden fluctuations of the thermometer, which are so characteristic of in- 
terior and rigorous climates. It will have been observed, in the above 
comparative table of temperatures, that the points of nearly the same 
yearly means in the northern part of the continent are characterized by 
a wider thermal range than the corresponding points in North Carolina. 
The difference of the January and July temperatures for Cambridge, for 
instance, is 44°, while that for Boone is 36° (39° for Dec.), and as we re- 
cede from the coast, the difference becomes more marked, being 44-|° at 
West Point, above 47° at Chicago, and 55-J e at Dubuque. We have seen 
that the greatest difference in this State is that for the middle section, 
viz : 40°, while that for the coast is 33°, and for the mountains 35°. 
But if instead of the differences of the monthly means, we compare 
the differences of the maxima and minima, the contrast will be still more 
striking. At Dubuque, the only point for which the necessary data are at 
hand, the range for January is above 59°, (from + 46° to — 13-^°) , that for 
