380 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1895. 



admixture of species which abound on the distant mountain sides 

 1,000 feet higher, and some common eastern species not hitherto met 

 with in the State, are recorded. Deciduous forests are the rule, 

 but lowland clearings are often covered with a dense growth of pines. 

 The elevation of Johnson City is not given in any work accessible to 

 me, but approximates 1,400 feet. 



9. Roan Mountain, Carter County; June 18th to 23rd. 



The Tennessee and North Carolina State line forms an acute angle 

 on the summit of Roan Mountain, the northwestern third of the 

 peak belonging to Tennessee. The elevation of the peak above 

 Roan Mountain Station at is base is 3,000 feet — the total elevation 

 being 6,394 feet. Roan Mountain Station is twelve miles from the 

 top of the mountain, and the country lying between these points 

 along the valley and canon of the Doe River formed the field of 

 investigation in this region. On the return journey a walk of 

 thirty miles was taken, down the headwaters of Rock Creek twelve 

 miles, and thence across to the Doe River Valley and Roan Moun- 

 tain Station. This ended the Tennessee trip so far as it related to 

 field work in natural history. 



On the summit of Roan Mountain we have a reproduction, with 

 local variations, of the fauna and flora of the Canadian zone. 



This gives place, at a lower elevation of 4,500 feet to 5,000 feet 

 above the sea, to the deciduous flora of the Alleghenian region with 

 a corresponding change in animal life, and this gradation from the 

 biological conditions of the north to those of the Carolinian fauna is 

 illustrated in a wonderful manner as one descends the mountain and 

 proceeds along the Doe River and valley to Johnson City. The 

 climatic conditions found on the summits of the Appalachian system 

 in this region differ markedly from those found in New England and 

 the Middle States in their greater humidity, due to the frequent pre- 

 cipitation and presence of clouds and fog. To a person who has 

 visited both mountain systems there is a marked resemblance in this 

 respect between the climatic conditions of the southern Alleghenies 

 and those of the Cascade Range in Washington and British Colum- 

 bia, and the fauna and flora of the two show a like differentiation. 

 Another factor which probably has much to do with the peculiar 

 biological features of this region is the equability of temperature. 

 Roan Mountain, for example, being always cool, often cold, but 

 never hot in the sense of the extreme heat to be found in summer 



