Memoir of Dr. Douglass Houghton. 217 
Of these, seven are west of north, four are east of north, and 
éwo in or near the meridian. There are not cases enough to de- 
duce a good general average, where the variance is about 90°. 
But it is probable that future investigations will show, here as in 
Maine and Massachusetts, a general bearing to the west of north, 
10° or 15°. In western New York, the average direction is to 
the east of north, about 20°. 
o determine the elevation of places in the above table from 
the ocean, add 564 feet, the ordinary level of Lake Erie. 
Arr. XXIV.—A Memoir of Dr. Douglass Houghton ; late 
State Geologist, and Professor of Geology and Chemistry in 
the University of Michigan. 
Tur life of the man of science belongs to the age. If that 
life has been illustrated by great talents and virtues, not merely 
will an interest attached to its history, but its memory will 
awaken a deeper love of science in the breasts of her votaries, 
and a more eager inquiry among the uninstructed, into those truths 
which could attract the minds of such men and bring out their 
good qualities. 
Such a life was that of Dr. Houghton. He was born at Troy, 
in the State of New York, Sept. 21, 1809, but at an early age ac- 
companied his father’s family to Fredonia, in western New York. 
In this quiet village, and during the usually thoughtless years of 
childhood, he laid the foundation of his scientific reputation. A 
little hermitage erected by himself in the shade and seclusion of 
his father’s orchard, for a place of quiet study, still remains, a 
Witness to the self-directed character of his acquirements. Here 
he commenced his researches into the laws of nature. Nor was 
the mere acquisition of knowledge all that attracted his mind; 
he at once turned it to practical account. At this period he com- 
menced experiments in the manufacture of percussion powder, 
which had been then recently invented, and he had actually pro- 
ceeded some way in the erection and management of a manufac- 
tory for the purpose, when an unlucky explosion took place, by 
which the whole works were blown up, and young Douglass along 
With them. The latter chanced to alight on a neighboring shed, 
and when returned to his senses, found his clothes in a blaze. 
He had the presence of mind to plunge instantly into a pond, and 
thus prevented further injury, but he bore evidences of the accl- 
ent ever afterwards. With all this love of studious application, 
lass was the very “head and front” of all the fun making 
exploits of the village boys, of whom he was the favorite. Ac- 
tive and persevering, possessed of great natural wit and shrewd- 
ness, he was the acknowledged leader in boyish enterprises. 
