GENERAL FEATURES. ] 5 



phere produces instant precipitation of the excess of moisture above 

 the degree to which the temperature has been lowered. Therefore, 

 the temperature and dew point being low in this great wilderness, and 

 a large amount of moisture being given off, both from the dense 

 forests themselves, and from the multitude of lakes and swamps scat- 

 tered over its surface, the atmosphere is often saturated, and showers 

 during the summer season are of frequent occurrence. The conforma- 

 tion of the country, too, favors precipitation within its own borders, 

 for a wind, from whatsoever direction blowing, could not easily 

 convey the lower vapor-laden atmosphere away without coming 

 in contact with some cool area or mountain side that would so lower 

 its temperature as to cause instant precipitation. Clouds carried over 

 the Adirondacks from a distance would, when sufficiently low, share 

 the same fate, and disappear in showers over the foot-hills. 



And such is, in fact, the case; for a long residence overlooking a 

 considerable portion of the western slope of the region has enabled 

 me to observe repeatedly, not only occasional showers, but sometimes 

 even whole days of more or less continuous rain there, when not a 

 drop, or at most a slight shower, fell at the point of observation, only 

 twelve or fifteen miles distant. 



5. -GENERAL FEATURES. 



We have found, then, that the atmospheric and general climatic 

 conditions, over this area, favor the production of a luxuriance of 

 vegetation; and, on the other hand, the conformation of the land and 

 the density of the forests and undergrowth tend to lower the temper- 

 ature and increase the humidity interacting causes whose effect 

 upon florae and faunae has hardly received the attention it deserves. 



The deep beds of moss upon the mountain tops consist chiefly of 

 species of Sphagnum and the " Shining Feather Moss ' (Hypnum 

 splendens], over which runs, in various places, the pretty Creeping 

 Snow-berry (Chiogenes hispidula) and the lovely twin bell-flowers 

 of Linncea borcalis. Other still more characteristic marsh plants grow 



