Max. STATION, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. Latitude, 40° 29′ N.; Longitude, 74° 26' W., or 2° 37′ E. Height, 115 feet. OBSERVER, P. VANDERBILT SPADER. Min. Mean. 1882. July October.... November.. December 1883. January... April May... June... For the year STATION, FREEHOLD, N. J. Latitude, 40° 15′ N.; Longitude, 74° 16′ W. Height of Barometer Cistern above Sea Level, 216 feet. Reduced to 320. THERMOMETER. Mean. Max. Min. Mean. Mean Monthly Mean Humidity. First frost, October 25th; latest frost, May 18th. No snow in measurable amount in December. Rain (inches).* STATION, VINELAND, N. J. Latitude, 39° 29′ N.; Longitude, 75° 1′ W. Height of Barometer Cistern above Sea Level, 111 feet. REMARKS.-Under the head of "cloudy days" is to be understood all days in which any clouds were found. By "clear observations" is to be understood the total observations free from clouds in each month, and the "average clouds " explains itself. STATION, SANDY HOOK, N. J. Latitude, 40° 28′ N.; Longitude, 74° W. Height of Barometer Cistern above Mean Sea Level, 28 feet. OBSERVER, U. S. SIGNAL SERVICE. Mean. Max. Min. THERMOMETER. Mean. Mean Monthly Mean Humidity. 1882. July 30.309 29.526 29.986 92.5 59.0 75.0 August.... 30.299 29.595 30.016) 88.0 61.0 September..... 30.244 29.548 30.021 87.0 52.5 68.6 73.3 679 October... February. March. 30.619 29.509 30.166 84.0 3.5 28.4 14 5 5 For the year *Including melted snow. QUINQUENNIAL DEATH-RATES. REMARKS ON THE QUINQUENNIAL DEATH-RATES AND COMPARISONS OF THE NEXT TABLE. The following table is intended to present, in a condensed form, (a) the death-rate by counties, including cities; (b) the death-rate of cities without the counties, and (c) the death-rate of the counties without the cities, for the first quinquennial period of the vital statistics of the State, as ending July, 1883. In addition, it presents the proportion of deaths under five years of age in the counties, including the cities, and in the cities without their counties. Also, the proportion of the chief preventable diseases to the entire deaths for the five years in the counties, including the cities, and in the cities without their counties. Quetelet gives four chief rules as to such statistics : I. Never have preconceived ideas as to what the figures are to prove. II. Never reject a number that seems contrary to what you might expect, merely because it departs a good deal from the apparent average. III. Be careful to weigh and record all the possible causes of an event, and do not attribute to one what is really the result of the combination of several. IV. Never compare data which have nothing in common. The following table, although exceedingly valuable for comparison to those who will accept it as a generalization and deal with it as to be studied alongside of modifying facts, is capable of being used in a plausible and yet utterly misleading way. Yet, in general, these modifying considerations are not difficult to estimate. In all large cities, and in large counties, for instance, the statistics are most informatory, since we are dealing with so large an aggregate of population as to neutralize or reduce to a minimum what might otherwise be a dis |