FIFTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. 201 
this ridge the land slopes back from the lake far inland to the 
central heights of the watershed between the Georgian Bay and the 
Ottawa River. The lake has an elevation of only 234 feet (264 
according to American surveys between the Atlantic and Oswego) 
above the sea. This comparatively low level conduces to raise the 
temperature of the borders of the lake. The comparatively moderate 
temperature of winter induced by lake influence and low level, the 
presence of high land to the north and west, and distance from lake 
water to the west, render the snowfall of the district lighter than in 
any other part of the lake region, with the exception of the district im- 
mediately north of Lake Erie. Sweeping over these high lands the 
north-west and westerly winds of winter which in passing over Lake 
Huron absorb considerable moisture, precipitate most of that moisture, 
and on regaining the low level of the Ontario basin resume almost their 
normal dryness. Owing to the comparative narrowness of the lake, 
and the fact that the winds which blow across it are not common or 
prevalent winds, the north shore, espevially in its westerly portion 
derives a comparatively small proportion of its rain and snowfall from 
the lake, and the average annual precipitation is less than in any 
other part of the lake region with the exception of a limited district 
immediately north of Lake Erie. Towards the east end of the lake 
the same influences which make the climate of Ottawa extreme begin 
more and more to prevail ; and the duration of sleighing gradually 
increases, till at Kingston it is nearly three months in length. 
The climate of Toronto fairly represents in kind the characteristics 
of the north shore. At a low level and protected by the lake against 
the warm southerly winds, and by Lake Huron and the Georgian 
Bay from the cold northerly and westerly winds of winter its 
seasonal and daily range is comparatively small. The summer is 
cooler than in almost any of the larger towns in Ontario ; and few have 
winters as mild. The mean temperature of January—about 23° for 
the eight years, 1874—’81, is nearly nine degrees higher than in Mon- 
treal, and is higher than in the uplands to the south-west, or than near 
Chicago, a degree and three-quarters farther south. The average mini- 
mum of January is —3°.1, the average minimum of the year —11°.0 ; 
the absolutely lowest in the eight years cited, —16°.0 ; and in the past 
twenty-five years —18°.4. The latter temperature is not so low as 
has been recorded within the same period at Louisville, Kentucky, 
or St. Louis, Missouri. The average duration of sleighing appears 
