eing divided
into a short rainy season and a long, dry, cloudless season. At
Copiapo, in 27 deg. 22' S., 1300 ft. above the sea, the mean annual
temperature is 60 deg. and the rainfall about 1 in., but at Coquimbo, in
29 deg. 56' S., the temperature is 59.2 deg. and the rainfall 11/2 in. At
Santiago, in 33 deg. 27' S., 1755 ft. above the sea, the mean temperature
is 54 deg. and the annual rainfall 161/2 in., though the latter varies
considerably. The number of rainy days in the year averages about 21.
At Talca, in 35 deg. 36' S. and 334 ft. above sea-level, the mean annual
temperature is nearly one degree above that of Santiago, but the
rainfall has increased to 19.7 in. The long dry season of this region
makes irrigation necessary, and vegetation has something of a
subtropical appearance, palms growing naturally as far south as 37 deg.
The climate is healthy and agreeable, though the death-rate among the
common people is abnormally high on account of personal habits and
unsanitary surroundings. In southern Chile the climate undergoes a
radical change--the prevailing winds becoming westerly, causing a long
rainy season with a phenomenal rainfall. The plains as well as the
western slopes of the Andes are covered with forest, the rivers become
torrents, and the sky is covered with heavy clouds a great part of the
year. At Valdivia, in 39 deg. 49' S. and near the sea-level, the mean
annual temperature is 52.9 deg. and the annual rainfall 108 to 115 in.,
with about 150 rainy days in the year. These meteorological conditions
are still more accentuated at Ancud, at the north end of the island of
Chiloe, in 41 deg. 46' S., where the mean annual temperature is 50.7 deg.
and the annual rainfall 134 in. The equable character of the climate at
this point is shown by the limited range between its summer and winter
temperatures, the mean for January being 56.5 deg. and the mean for July
45.9 deg. The almost continual cloudiness is undoubtedly a principal
cause, not only of the low summer temperatures, but also of the
comparatively high winter temperatures. Frosts are infrequent, and
snow does not lie long. The climate is considered to be healthful
notwithstanding the excessive humidity. The 600 m. of coast from the
Chonos Archipelago south to the Fuegian islands have a climate closely
approximating that of the latter. It is wet and stormy all the year
through, thoug