NEW YORK. 



219 



formity of the country is such as to permit the 

 establishment of an artificial navigation. By the 

 success of the Erie canal, the country, in short, 

 though crossed by lofty mountains intersecting it 

 from the north-east to the south-west, is, for all com- 

 mercial purposes, becoming an island. 



Geology and Mineralogy. On examining Mr 

 Maclure's map illustrative of the geology of the 

 United States, it will be seen that most of the form- 

 ations of geologists exist in this state ; and some of 

 these are among the most interesting that can be 

 investigated, either by the mineralogist or the public 

 economist. We refer particularly to the salt and 

 gypsum found in the western part of the state. The 

 Onondaga salt springs (as they are usually termed) 

 are situated at the head of the lake of the same name, 

 about 130 miles west of the city of Albany. Tb, ^h 

 surrounded by brine springs, the waters of the lake 

 are perfectly fresh. Plants which are found on the 

 sea-shore are noticed here, and, in particular, the 

 salicornia and salsola. Below the mud, or decayed 

 vegetable matter, which constitutes the valley of 

 these springs, a stratum of earthy marl is found, con- 

 taining numerous fossil univalves, and this again 

 appears to be succeeded by a conglomerate. The 

 peculiar nature of the underlying rock, or rather its 

 position, does not seem settled, and we have not 

 room to go into the discussion concerning it. Salt is 

 manufactured here to a large extent by the various 

 processes of boiling, of evaporation with artificial 

 heat, and of solar evaporation. In 1830, there were 

 manufactured above 1,400,000 bushels. Gypsum in 

 its various forms of earthy gypsum, selenite, and 

 even alabaster, is found, particularly 'in the counties 

 of Onondaga and Cayuga, and is extensively applied 

 for agricultural purposes. Nor must we omit a notice 

 of the impure limestone found in the western as well 

 as northern parts of the state, which has been 

 a most important aid in the construction of the canals 

 of the state. At an early period, it was found that 

 if burned, and mixed with proper ingredients, it 

 would set under water, and, accordingly, has been 

 most extensively used. Marble is obtained in large 

 quantities from the quarries of Sing Sing for archi- 

 tectural purposes. Its purity evidently increases 

 with the depth of the excavations. Tu noticing the 

 prominent articles of mineral wealth, we must not 

 pass by the vast beds of iron ore found in the counties 

 west of lake Champlain. In 1825, there were no less 

 than 103 iron-works, and 73 trip-hammers, in the 

 counties constituting the fourth and fifth senate dis- 

 tricts. The iron ore of Columbia county, in the vi- 

 cinity of the Hudson, is also highly valued and exten- 

 sively manufactured. Traces of other metals, as lead, 

 silver, zinc, titanium, &c., have also been observed in 

 various parts of the state. It is still a problem whe- 

 ther anthracite or bituminous coal is to be found in 

 sufficient quantity for useful purposes within the 

 bounds of the state. Of minerals, which may be ra- 

 ther deemed objects of curiosity, this state furnishes 

 numerous varieties. This will be sufficiently illus- 

 trated when we refer to the granitic districts near New 

 York, and on the borders of lake Champlain the 

 transition and secondary districts that compose the 

 body of the state. In fossil remains, even of some of 

 the higher animals, triere is also an abundant supply 

 for investigation. 



Temperature, $c. A mass of interesting facts on 

 this subject has been obtained, in consequence of the 

 regents requiring annual meteorological reports from 

 the academies under their care. These academies are 

 situated in every part of the state ; and the mean 

 temperature of the whole tiius furnishes an approxi- 

 mation towards the actual state of thermometric 

 heat. 



In 1826, the mean temperature of ten places, reporting 



complete annual tables, was 49.38 



1827, the mean temperature of eighteen places was . . 46.48 

 18:28, the mean temperature of twenty-four places was 49.50 



1829, the mean temperature of twenty-ei^ht places was 46.45 



1830, the mean temperature of thirty-four places was 48.15 



Mean of the five years 48.00 



The quantity of rain and snow has also been ascer- 

 tained in a similar manner. Thus 



Inches, 

 in 1826, the mean rain and snow of nine places a* 36.:i4 



1827, the iiie.iin rain and snw of seventeen places was 44.29 



1828, the mean rain and snow of tweuty-fi ve places was 36.74 

 182!), the mean rain and snmv of twenty- five places was 34.88 

 -is.iu, the mean rain and suow of thirty-two places was 38.8J 



Mean of the five years, 38.22 



The highest degree of temperature noticed in these 

 tables is +104, at which the thermometers stood in 

 the Montgomery academy, county of Orange, July 

 20, 1830. Its latitude is north 41 32', and longi- 

 tude west 74 10'. The lowest degree noticed is 

 33, at which the thermometer stood in Lowville aca- 

 demy, county of Lewis, January 31, 1830 ; north la- 

 titude 43 47' ; west longitude 75 33'. The ther- 

 mometric range is thus 137 degrees. The state is, in 

 general, very healthy. 



Population, &c. Under the colonial government, 

 the inhabitants of New York consisted principally of 

 four classes : 1. Dutch, the descendants of the first 

 settlers ; 2. English and Scotch emigrants, and their 

 posterity ; 3. descendants of French Protestants, who 

 took refuge in the colony on the revocation of the 

 edict of Nantes ; 4. Germans, descendants of a colony 

 of Palatines, who, in 1709, fled to England to escape 

 persecution in Germany, and, in the ensuing year, 

 emigrated to New York under the patronage of the 

 British government. On the termination of the revo- 

 lutionary war, a tide of emigration set in from the 

 New England states, which continued for many years, 

 and to such an extent, that a majority of the present 

 population is probably composed of natives of those 

 states, or their descendants. Many emigrants from 

 Ireland, and from other parts of Europe, have also 

 been attracted to this state, and particularly to its 

 great commercial metropolis and the flourishing 

 towns in the interior. The influence of this varied 

 descent is to be seen in many of the institutions and 

 prevailing habits of the people ; and it has probably 

 tended to render the inhabitants of New York more 

 liberal in their opinions, less wedded to particular 

 systems, and more ready to imbibe and to follow the 

 spirit of the age, than they might otherwise have 

 been. Until within a few years, the German and 

 Dutch languages were much spoken in particular dis- 

 tricts, but both are rapidly falling into disuse. The 

 progress of population in the territory composing the 

 state of New York, is almost unexampled, as will be 

 seen by the following table : Population in 1702, 

 20,708 ; in 1731, 50,259 ; in 1738, 60,100; in 1771, 

 158,898; in 1790, 340,120; in 1800, 586,050; in 

 1810, 959,049; in 1820, 1,372,812; in 1825, 

 1,616,458; in 1830, 1,919,404. In 1790, the terri- 

 tory west of the Seneca lake contained only 1081 

 souls ; its population in 1830 was 406,906. Accord- 

 ing to the state census in 1825, the area was divided 

 into acres, improved, 7,256,048; unimproved, 

 21,964,888=29,220,936, or 45,658 square miles. 

 Population to a square mile, in 1825, nearly 35 ; in 

 1830, 42. The rapid increase of some of the cities 

 and towns also deserves notice. New York, in 1790, 

 contained 33,130 inliabitants ; in 1810, 96,373 ; and 

 in 1830, 203,009: Albany, in 1790,3498; in 1820, 

 12,630; in 1830, 24,238 : Troy, in 1820, 5261 ; in 

 1830, 11,605; Rochester, in 1820, 1502; in 1830, 

 9269 ; Utica, in 1820, 2972 ; in 1830, 8320. New 

 York is now entitled to thirty-four representatives in 



