A compilation of observed interstellar gas properties is presented based on over 200 observations of coronal gas, intercloud gas, diffuse clouds, dark clouds, Bok globules, H II regions, and molecular clouds associated with H II regions. The mean and standard deviation in particle number density (n), gas temperature (T), and pressure (P/k) are computed for each gas type, while the mean and standard deviation in scale length and mass are calculated for each discrete cloud type. A plot of log T vs log n is graphed for the compiled data, and four portions of the resulting diagram are discussed in terms of the reliability of apparent trends, implications of pressure equilibrium, and constraints on cloud-heating mechanisms.
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P. C. Myers (1978) studied this question.