152 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



would run off with great rapidity, forming tremendous tor- 

 rents, producing devastation in their course, and leaving lit- 

 tle or no water in the affluents of the great rivers. This con- 

 dition of things, which is inevitable should the denudation 

 of the surface continue, would probably be accompanied by a 

 great alteration in the climatological peculiarities of New 

 York and New England, such as hotter summers, colder* win- 

 ters, and a much less amount of rain throughout the summer 

 season, involving droughts and their attendant evil conse- 

 quences. 2th Report JVeioYork State Cab. 



EXPLORATIONS OF LIEUTENANT WHEELER IN 1871. 



Advices from Lieutenant G. M. Wheeler, United States En- 

 gineers, whose movements during the past year we have had 

 frequent occasion to chronicle, announce his arrival at Tucson 

 about the 4th of December, 1871, with the men and animals 

 nearly exhausted. The trip from Prescott to Camp Apache 

 had been very severe, on account of the snow and high winds 

 on the Colorado plateau. During their exploration one party 

 had been sent to the San Francisco Mountains, and made the 

 ascent of the principal peak. These mountains consist of 

 three prominences, grouping in the form of a crater, the north- 

 eastern rim being wanting. The principal peak was occupied 

 as a topographical, barometrical, and photographic station. 

 It is believed to be nearly one thousand feet higher than the 

 peak usually ascended, and Lieutenant Wheeler was of the 

 opinion that his party was the first to occupy its summit. 

 This, however, was a mistake, as Dr. Edward Palmer, of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, made the ascent in 1870, and obtain- 

 ed a number of new species of plants, reptiles, and insects. 



EXPLORATIONS OF MAJOR POWELL IN 1871. 



Major Powell has returned from the canons of the Colora- 

 do, having left his party in the field in charge of Professor 

 Thompson. Since the party started in April last it has passed 

 through the canons of Green River and the canons of the 

 Colorado to the mouth of the Paria, at the head of Marble 

 Canon. Here the major left his boats for the winter, and he 

 expects to return as soon as there is a favorable stage of 

 water, and embark for the second trip through the Grand 

 Canon. 



