Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/485

.] Alleghany system, and are connected with the mountains of Pennsylvania by the Delaware Mountains, which have an altitude of from 1600 to 2800 feet. (3) The Highlands of the Hudson, through which the river passes at West Point, are the northern continuation of the Blue Ridge of Pennsylvania, having an altitude of from 1200 to 1800 feet. The so-called mountains of the central and southern counties are portions of a high plateau which connects with the Helderberg and Catskill Mountains on the east. This is cut by eroded valleys in such a way as to leave many elevated points, of which the highest is East Hill in Otsego county, 2300 feet above the sea.

One of the most peculiar and impressive topographical features is formed by the cliffs of the Palisades, which border the Hudson in Kockland county, and are continu ous with those of New Jersey.

EB9 New York - Geological Map of New York State.jpg

Lakes and Rivers. Two of the chain of great lakes border the State, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, con nected by the Niagara river, on which is the most celebrated cataract in the world. Lake Erie gives about 75 miles of coast-line to New York, Lake Ontario over 200. The surface level of the former is 573 feet above the sea, of the latter 245 feet ; and this is 606 feet deep. A por tion of the eastern border of New York is formed by Lake Champlain, which lies in the trough between the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains. Within the State the number of lakes is very great. The largest is Lake George, famous for its beautiful scenery. Through the central portion a series of peculiar elongated lakes are found which lie with a nearly north-and-south bearing on the slope from southern highlands to the Ontario basin, or the Mohawk valley. The largest of these are Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, Crooked, Canandaigua, Owasco, and Otsego. These are river valleys once occupied and modified by glaciers and dammed up by moraines. The Adirondack region is famous for its system of lakes, which are favourite places of resort for tourists. Among the rivers of New York the Hudson is the largest and most beautiful. Formerly it ran several hundred feet below its present level, and was the great channel of drainage which led through the Mohawk valley from the interior. Now, by a subsidence of the continent, it is an arm of the sea, and navigable to Troy, 151 miles from its mouth. The Black River, the Mohawk, and the Genesee are all large streams which lie entirely within the State, while the Alleghany, the Sus- quehanna, and the Delaware rise there, but soon leave it to become the great rivers of Pennsylvania. From the varied topography and the abundant rainfall the number of streams is large, and many of them are marked by picturesque falls. Besides the great cataract of Niagara, a mile wide and 164 feet high, which New York shares with Canada, there are many other falls worthy of mention, as those of the Genesee at Rochester and Portage, Trenton Falls, the Falls of Ticonderoga, &c. Among the natural features which distinguish the State its mineral springs deserve special mention. Those of Saratoga, Balston, Sharon, Avon, and Richfield are famous throughout the Union. They differ much in chemical composition and medicinal virtues, but all are popular places of resort, and some have gathered round them towns of considerable size.

Climate. In a general way it may be said that the climate of New York is typical of that of the northern United States, a climate of extremes, hot in summer and cold in winter, and yet healthful, stimulating, and on the whole not disagreeable. The average annual temperature is about 47 Fahr., the average maximum of summer heat 93, the temperature of 100 being rarely reached, and 102 the highest maximum record. The minimum tempera ture is about - 20 Fahr., never attained in the southern portion, seldom in the central, but often passed by four or five de grees in the most northern counties. The average rainfall is about 40 inches. Frosts begin from Sep tember 1st to October 1st, and end from April 1st to May 1st, according to the locality and year. In the Adirondack region the snow fall is heavy, the winter long and severe. In central New York it is not uncommon for snow to accumu late to the depth of 3 or 4 feet, and yet this is not persistent. About New York city and on Long Island the snow rarely exceeds a foot in depth, sleighing is always uncertain, and sometimes the ground will be bare for weeks together. Thus it will be seen that the climate of New York is intermediate in char acter between that of New Eng land and the Mississippi valley States, a little milder than the first, severer than the last. The great lakes which border it are never frozen to their centres, and exert an equalizing influence upon the climate of their shores. In the absence of extensive alluvial plains and marshes, there is little malaria, and the climate is salubrious. About New York city and on Long Island the ocean softens the rigours of winter, and through the influence of the Arctic current, which bathes the coast as far south as Cape Hatteras, renders the summer per ceptibly cooler.

The local variation of climate within the limits of the State will be best seen by the following table :

Lat. Long. Elevation. Mean Annual Temp. Mean Ammnl Rainfall. Moriches, Long Is land / 40 49 7236 Feet. Sea-level. 54-2 Inches. 54-67 New York City Albany 4042 42 40 74 7445 100 150 51-2 46-9 44-59 40-67 43 8 7751 525 46-9 32-56 Buffalo 42 53 78 55 660 46-8 33 -S4 44 25 75 35 400 44-1 30-15 4441 73 25 186 44 33-4

Fauna. At the advent of the whites the fauna of New York included all the wild animals which were found in the north-eastern States of the Union or the adjacent 