--The meteorological tables which accompany the report on the sickness and mortality of the army of the United States, are very full and complete.
It appears therefrom that the greatest thermometrical range at any of the military posts is 147 degrees, this being at
Fort Ripley, Minnesota; at
Fort Kent, in Maine, it is 137 degrees.
The greatest degree of cold at the former post is 50 below zero, and at the latter 37 below zero.
In not far from the same latitude, in the region of the lakes and at a similar altitude, at
Forts Brady and
Howard, in
Michigan, the range is scarcely less.
At Fort Wilkins, on
Lake Superior, which is almost surrounded by water, the degree of cold is only 9 below zero.
In
Washington Territory, at Fort Stelacoom, in the same latitude, the range is only 95 degrees, the mercury falling to only 1 degree below zero.
The greatest heat is at Fort Yuma, in
Southern California, situated in latitude 32, on the
Colorado river; the average maximum heat for three and a half years being 121 degrees, and the range 102.
The least average rang was at Fort Oxford, Oregon, on the
Pacific coast, in latitude 43, it being nearly the same as at
Key West.