36 PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



THE FAUNAL AREAS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The State of New Hampshire is roughly triangular in out- 

 line and stretches from the northeastern boundary of Massachu- 

 setts northward to Canada. It lies in central New England, 

 between latitudes 42deg., 4omin., N., and 45deg., iSmin., 

 23 sec., N., and includes a great variety of country. In his ac- 

 count of the topography of the State, Hitchcock ('74) distin- 

 guishes six natural divisions. At the extreme southeast is 

 what he terms the Coast Slope ; here the land gradually rises 

 westward from sea level along our limited shore-line to the 

 slight divide of from two hundred to four hundred feet, rimming 

 the Merrimack basin. To this area belong the Isles of Shoals, 

 some of which are politically a part of the State of Maine. 

 Beaches and salt marshes occur along the coast, and numerous 

 small hills rise on the inland slope. The second division is that 

 of the Merrimack basin, embracing much of the drainage area 

 of that river from the White Mountains and Winnipesaukee 

 districts southward, and broadening out towards Massachusetts. 

 Its western rim is the long ridge which borders the Connecticut 

 valley on the east, and which is really an extension of the White 

 Mountain region. This ridge culminates at the south in Mt. 

 Monadnock (3166 ft.) but a few miles from the Massachusetts 

 line. The Connecticut valley forms the third district. The 

 river itself is the western boundary of the State, and much of 

 its basin lies in Vermont. Its broad, sweeping meadows, 

 hemmed in by the ridge on the east, mark it off distinctly from 

 the rest of the State. The source of the stream is the Qonnec- 



