Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/771

 COAST SURVEY 755 and it is divided by the bay of San Francisco. S. of lat. 34 20' N. a plain from 25 to 40 m. wide lies between the mountains and the sea, the spurs being short and running at right an- gles with the main ridge ; N. of that, the spurs form the greater part of the coast line. The principal of these S. of the bay of San Fran- cisco are the Santa Susanna, Santa Inez, Santa Barbara, and Santa Lucia ridges. E. of the bay is the Contra Costa ridge, which is crossed by the Gabilan ridge. N". of the Gabilan are the Sonoma and Carneros ridges, beyond which the spurs are so numerous and closely con- nected that they are scarcely distinguished by name. These spurs are separated by fertile valleys, some of which are 60 m. long by 10 m. broad, watered by streams, and possessing a genial and equable climate. The most noted are the Los Angeles, Salinas, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Napa valleys. The principal peaks of the main ridge are Mt. Ripley, 7,500 ft. high, in lat. 39 8'; Mt. St. Helena, 3,700 ft., lat. 38 40'; Monte Diablo, 3,881 ft., lat. 37 50' ; Mt. San Bernardino, 11,600 ft., lat. 34 20' ; and Mt. San Gorgonio, 7,000 ft., lat. 33 48'. N". of all these are Mts. Linn and St. John. The principal passes are S. of the outlet of the Sacramento basin. The northernmost, Liver- more's pass, lat. 37 42', is 686 ft. high ; the others are mostly higher, the two southern- most, San Gorgonio and Warner's, lat. 33 10', being respectively 2,808 and 3,780 ft. high. Nearly all the spurs, valleys, and streams of the range run to the west. The Coast moun- tains are steep and rocky. N". of lat. 38 they are covered with timber and brush ; S. of that the ridges nearest the ocean have some timber, and those further inland are nearly bare. The main ridge, near the head of the Sacramento valley, is called Trinity ridge ; near Monte Diablo is the Diablo or Bolbones ridge ; S. of lat. 34 is the San Bernardino ridge, and in one place the Cuyamaca mountain. A range of mountains in the N. W. part of Ore- gon, running parallel with the sea, is also designated the Coast range. The Calapooya mountains connect it on the south with the Cascade range. COAST SURVEY, United States. The coast sur- vey of the United States is a national underta- king of high character and importance. Hav- ing an extended and dangerous seacoast, with a large foreign commerce, in the pursuit of which many thousand vessels annually enter and leave our ports, with an immense coast- wise trade which employs many vessels and thousands of seamen, it is plainly our duty as a nation to provide every means which science and practical skill can afford for pointing out the dangers to which this commerce is exposed, and to furnish every facility for its successful prosecution. To accomplish these objects the coast survey was founded. It is designed to furnish accurate maps of the whole coast ; to point out the positions for lighthouses, beacons, and other signals ; to determine the character and course of the currents of the ocean along our shores ; to develop and determine the laws of the tides ; to ascertain the prevailing courses of the winds and the general laws of atmos- pheric influence, the changes which take place at the entrances of our harbors, the charac- ter of the bottom of the sea within the lim- its of soundings, and all other questions which contribute to a thorough knowledge of our coast and its adjacent waters. It has also the further object of distributing this knowledge throughout the world, so that all nations may partake of its advantages. For the accom- plishment of these objects a wide range of ap- plication of the practical sciences is required. Astronomy and geodesy furnish the means of projecting maps. The highest forms of mathe- matical science are required in the investiga- tion of the laws of the tides and the figure of the earth. Geology explains the changes which are constantly taking place in all our harbors and rivers, and in the general form of the coast. Natural history accounts for the for- mation of those coral reefs in the southern waters, so long the terror of navigators, pre- dicts their growth and extension, and investi- gates the forms of animal life at the bottom of the sea, thus affording new and unexpected aids to navigation. Physical science furnishes the electric telegraph, by which longitudes are determined, and the electrotype and photo- graph, by means of which engraved plates and charts are indefinitely multiplied. The me- chanic arts supply the most delicate instru- ments ; and the industrial arts of drawing, en- graving, and printing are all required in their greatest perfection. For the expanded concep- tion of this great institution as it now exists ; for the administrative skill which has perfected its organization ; for the solution of many in- teresting questions of science which it has in- volved, especially those of the tides, the Gulf stream, and the magnetic force; for the ge- nius which has brought to the highest perfec- tion the scientific methods employed ; for the untiring labor which, within a comparatively short period, has produced greater results than any other institution of the kind, the world is greatly indebted to Prof. A. D. Bache, the late superintendent. Since his death the work of the survey has been greatly extended, and its usefulness increased, by the present super- intendent, Prof. Benjamin Peirce. The most important work set in operation since his ac- cession to the position of superintendent is the great national triangulation a geodetic survey which is intended to embrace the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific within its limits, and to form by means of triangulation a grand chain across the continent, which will serve in a most satisfactory manner to verify the inde- pendently determined longitudes of the Pacific coast. This great work, together with the other improvements which have been made under the rule of the present superintendent, will be referred to in another place. The first