82 
GEOLOGT OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
sippi and eastward is probably a little above 45, and for the western half 
of the United States it is about 20, so that for the whole it is a little more 
than 30 inches. In the construction of the table for North Carolina, the 
stations are omitted for which the observations do not cover 2 years. 
This table shows a very great variation in the amount of annual pre- 
cipitation from station to station ; and at some of them the amount is ex- 
traordinary, — far beyond the average even for this very term of years, 
1871 to 1874 ; but the average for the whole State and for every region 
is notably high ; although for a few stations, as Greensboro’, it is abnor- 
mally low. In Blodget’s rain chart there is only a small section in tht 
southeast corner of the State which is credited with so large an amoune 
as 48 inches, while a strip along the Blue Ridge is set down at 36 inches ; 
and the average for the State has been commonly given as about 45 
inches. But for the past few years the average is greater than this for 
the middle region and still larger for the two other divisions : so that 
the average for the whole rises above 53 inches. It is necessary that ob- 
servations be continued through a long series of years, in order to elimi- 
nate the effect of irregularities and (perhaps) periodic variations in the 
amount of annual precipitation. But the present results seem to justify 
the conclusion that the average for the State has been heretofore placed 
at too low a figure, the deduction having been made from insufficient 
data, the stations being far too few and distant, and too partial in their 
distribution. 
The quantity of rainfall is hardly more important than its distribu- 
tion through the season of the year. Some portions of the earth which 
have an abundance of precipitation are almost uninhabitable on account 
of its unequal distribution ; being overwhelmed by floods at one season 
and parched by drought at another. In this State, as may be seen from 
the table, the variation from month to month, and from season to season 
is very slight. On the whole, more rain falls in summer than in any 
other season, and the amount for winter stands next in order of magni- 
tude. The most rainy month is July, and the next in order is February ; 
but there is properly speaking no dry season or wet season, in any part 
of North Carolina. 
The amount of precipitation in Europe, although very different from 
country to country, diminishing in general, with the distance from sea 
coasts and high mountains, is usually less than in this country. A few 
examples of notable localities in the old world are given by way of com- 
parison, viz: London 21, Liverpool 34, Glasgow 21, Paris 23, Dijon 31, 
Marseilles 20, Bordeaux 34, Madrid 10, Berlin 24, Copenhagen 18, Milan 
38, Rome 31, Naples 30, St. Petersburg 18, Pekin 27, Canton 69. 
