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METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

MADE NEAR

WASHINGTON, ARK.,

EXTENDING OVER A PERIOD OF TWENTY YEARS,

FROM 1840 TO 1859, INCLUSIVE.

BY

NATHAN D. SMITH, M. D.

[ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION, JANUARY, 1860.]

COLLINS, PRINTER.

PHILADELPHIA.

INTRODUCTION.

THE Meteorological Tables here presented, form one set of a number of daily records, published by the Smithsonian Institution, to exhibit the simultaneous condition of the weather in different parts of the Continent of North America, during a series of years. This set is from the records of Dr. N. D. Smith, of Arkansas, and may be relied on for regularity, and for as much accuracy as the means at the command of the observer would allow him to attain.

The following remarks relative to the instruments and the character of the country, are from the pen of the observer:

Agreeable to your request, I herewith transmit to you a copy of my Record of the Weather, for the past twenty years. It has been kept, intermingled with my diary of events and business, for the satisfaction of myself and family, without the expectation of its being appreciated beyond my household circle. But, since you deem it worthy of acceptance, it is freely presented to the Smithsonian Institution. "My thermometer has hung all the time in the same place, in the open air, in the window-frame, outside of the sash, on the north side of the house, eight feet above the ground, and protected from any injurious reflection. My rain-gauge is a deep tin cup, set on the ground, in an exposed spot in the garden, and the rain measured after every fall, by a rule graduated to tenths of an inch.

"My residence, where the observations were made, is on the summit of the dividing ridge between the waters of the Red River and those of the Washita, fifteen miles northeast of Fulton, and twenty south of the Little Missouri. From this ridge there is no higher level for a long distance; but to the northwest, there is a gradual ascent for about fifty miles to the foot of the mountains.

“It will be seen by the tables that we have sufficient alternations of heat and cold, rain and sunshine, to diversify our weather. A very large proportion of our rains fall in the night-time, and are generally accompanied with thunder. During the summer, we seldom have any but local showers, and these, though sometimes heavy, are of limited extent. Thus, some localities may be deluged with rain, while others, within a few miles, are at the same time parched with drought.

"Hempstead County is bounded on the south by Red River, which winds in a serpentine course through a valley of from eight to twelve miles in width, much the largest portion of which consists of level prairies, slightly elevated above the surrounding timbered land, and was originally clothed with a tall, fine grass. The soil, beneath the dark brown surface mould, is a dark red clay, twenty to thirty feet deep, through which wells have been sunk, into a quicksand filled with The surrounding timber is of gigantic size, consisting of black walnut,

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pecan, mulberry, oak of different species, cottonwood, cedar, osage orange, with many other species, and thickly interspersed with large cane. These prairies are very distinct in their character from those of the uplands, and only resemble them in being destitute of timber. Ascending northwardly from the river valley, we pass over an elevated timber region, generally level, diversified with ridge and valley, finely watered, soil of several varieties, sandy with pine, clay loam with oak, hickory, and dogwood, and occasionally a tract of prairie.

"Washington, the county town, is situated on a sandy pine hill, in about the centre of the county, in latitude 33° 42', one hundred and fifty miles west of the Mississippi, fourteen miles northeast from Fulton, on Red River, and on an elevation of about six hundred feet above the bed of Red River, immediately south. To the north and west of the town are the upland prairies. These prairies exhibit a very interesting appearance in a geological point of view. Where they join upon the timbered land, the change is abrupt, from tall timber to naked rock. Tall pine, oak, and hickory, with their roots imbedded in a tough ferruginous clay, grow to the very margin, the line of junction resembling the shore of a lake. The naked prairie is the soft limerock that underlies, at various depths, this whole southwestern region. It has been penetrated by the auger, in attempting to procure water by boring Artesian wells, to the depth of four hundred and fifty feet, without any material change in its character, except occasionally a thin stratum of sandstone. The rock is soft enough to be cut with a knife, and yet cisterns excavated in its substance will hold water and preserve it in purity during any length of time. The chemical composition, so far as I have been informed, is 85 per cent. of carbonate of lime, with a small proportion of silica, and intimately combined with alumina, so that, when exposed to the atmosphere, the moisture absorbed causes it to fall to powder. The naked prairie has the appearance of having been denuded of its superstratum of clay and sand, and the surface produces a slight vegetation, which, being loosened by the action of frost, is ever ready to be washed by the rains to lower grounds, forming a soil of increasing depth as it descends, until, in the valleys, it sustains a growth of heavy timber and cane -a deep, black soil, composed essentially of lime and vegetable mould. Many of these valleys, or river and creek bottoms, are of considerable extent, and are continually increasing in width and depth of soil, by accessions of alluvium from higher grounds. This soil has the peculiar property of retaining moisture, and sustaining a drought without material injury, that would be fatal to crops on sandy uplands. The soil is scarcely surpassed in fertility, yielding equally well all the varied products of the North, and the cotton of the South.

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During the heat of summer, continued refreshing breezes pass over the elevated region, which render the climate pleasant and healthful.”

The reductions of the observations were made at the Smithsonian Institution.

JOSEPH HENRY,
Secretary S. I.

CONTENTS.

OBSERVATIONS.

TABLES of observed temperature at sunrise throughout the year, and at 2 P. M. in the winter and 3 P. M. in the summer; amount of rain, and remarks on the weather; with the daily mean temperature, and monthly mean, maximum, minimum, and range, from January 1, 1840, to December 31, 1859

PAGE

1 to 60

SUMMARIES.

EXTREMES OF TEMPERATURE. -Tables for each month and year, and for the whole series of

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VARIATIONS OF TEMPERATURE.-Tables for each month and year, and for the whole series of

twenty years:

VII. Range of temperature at sunrise

VIII. Range of temperature at 2 or 3 P. M.

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XI. Greatest rise of temperature from sunrise of one day to sunrise of the next day
XII. Greatest rise of temperature from 2 or 3 P. M. of one day to 2 or 3 P. M. of the

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next day

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XIII. Greatest fall of temperature from sunrise of one day to sunrise of the next day
XIV. Greatest fall of temperature from 2 or 3 P. M. of one day to 2 or 3 P. M. of the
next day

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MEAN TEMPERATURE.-Tables for each month and year, and for the whole series of twenty years:

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XIX. to XXXI. Mean temperature of every day, as deduced from the observations for twenty years

72 to 84

RAIN.

XXXII. Amount of rain for each month and year, and monthly and annual means for the whole series of twenty years

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