VEGETATION OP THE NORTHERN SHORES. 185 



lake, and does not form an exception to the law of distribution, and 

 change of the character of vegetation in the interior of continents, upon 

 the slopes of high mountains ; for we have, even a few degrees farther 

 south, in the same continent, a striking example of the fixity of these 

 laws, in the White Mountains, which are sufficiently distant from the 

 sea-shore, and not surrounded by any large sheet of fresh water, so 

 that the zones of vegetation are very well marked on their slopes, 

 and can be traced in gradual succession beyond the range of the 

 Mountains proper to the level, where the vegetation has the char- 

 acter which distinguishes it, in this latitude, near the level of the sea. 



In the vicinity of the White Mountains, the changes of vegetation 

 are rather conspicuous, owing to their gradual elevation above the 

 surrounding flat country, and also to the more sudden rise of several 

 of their peaks. We no sooner begin to ascend the head waters of 

 the Connecticut valley towards Littleton, than the forest vegetation 

 begins to assume a different character from what it has lower down in 

 the main valley nearer the sea. Juglans cinerea and Carya porcina 

 disappear in that* village. The oaks also are fewer and smaller. 

 The mountain maple, which is not found below, here makes its 

 appearance. The following trees may be seen between Windsor and 

 Littleton : — Abies Canadensis, Pinus strobus. Thuya occidentahs, 

 Larix Americana, Platanus occidentalis, Fagus ferruginea, Compto- 

 nia asplenifolia, Betula populifoha, B. lenta, B. excclsa, B. papy- 

 racea, Quercus alba, Q. rubra, Q. bicolor, Ulmus Americana, Car- 

 pinus Americana, Ostrya Virginica, Fraxinus alba, Populus tremu- 

 loides, Tilia Americana, Acer saccharinum, A. montanum, A. Penn- 

 sylvanicum. The chestnut has already disappeared at Windsor, 

 where the height above the level of the sea is three hundred feet. 



From Littleton, eight hundred and thirty feet above the sea, to 

 Fabyan's, which is fifteen hundred feet,* we notice Abies alba, 

 A. balsamifera, A. Canadensis, Pinus strobus, Larix Americana, 

 TiHa Americana, Fraxinus alba, Acer saccharinum, A. monta- 

 num, A. Pennsylvanicum, Ulmus Americana, Sorbus Americana, 

 Betula excelsa, B. papyracea, B. populifolia, Alnus incana, Comp- 



* This and the following measures were ascertained barometrically by Professor 



A. Guyot. 



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