Septembee 25, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



447 



Falls ; to tlie Forests of Crater Lake, by 

 Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the U. S. 

 Biological Survey ; to ' That Tired Feeling,' 

 by Prof. B. W. Evermann, of the U. S. Fish 

 Commission ; to the History of the Cascade 

 Mountain National Forest Reservation, by 

 Mr.W.G. Steel, of Portland, late President of 

 the Mazamas. At the conclusion of the 

 exercises a signal gun was fired and the 

 crater of Wizard Island, a cinder cone ris- 

 ing 840 feet from the water of the lake, was 

 illuminated by burning 20 pounds of ' red 

 fire.' 



On other evenings informal ' camp fire 

 talks ' were given by the government 

 scientists present. Mr. J. S. Diller, of the 

 Geological Survey, gave an account of the 

 geological history of Crater Lake. Mr. F. 

 Y. Coville, Chief Botanist of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, spoke of the flora of 

 the region and mentioned many facts of 

 historic interest connected with early botan- 

 ical explorations in the l^orthwest. Dr. C. 

 Hart Merriam spoke on the fauna of the 

 region and the geographic distribution of 

 life in Oregon with special reference to the 

 Cascade Range. Prof. B. W. Evermann, 

 of the Fish Commission, spoke of the animal 

 life of Crater Lake and its physical features 

 with reference to the introduction of fish. 



The government is doing a great deal of 

 scientific work in Oregon this year. Mr. 

 Diller is mapping the distribution of vol- 

 canic rocks in the Cascade Range and Rogue 

 River Valley ; Mr. F. V. Coville and his 

 assistant, Mr. John Lieberg, have conducted 

 extensive botanical explorations across the 

 State ; Dr. C. Hart Merriam, assisted by 

 Messrs. Vernon Bailey, E. A. Preble, C. P. 

 Streator and C. Allen, has carried the work 

 of the biological survey over the greater 

 part of Oregon ; and Prof. B. W. Evermann, 

 assisted by Prof. Cox, is engaged in study- 

 ing the fish faunas of numerous waters in 

 the Northwest. The ofiicers in charge of 

 these several parties were glad to avail them- 



selves of the exceptionally favorable oppor- 

 tunity to study the natural history of the 

 Crater Lake region afforded by the Mazama 

 excursion. Two new boats were built and 

 placed on the lake, and numerous courtesies 

 were extended to the government men by 

 the Mazamas. 



Crater Lake is easily the jewel of the 

 Northwest. It is hoped that means of reach- 

 ing it will be perfected in the near future, so 

 that it may be visited by the thousands of 

 tourists and others who now content them- 

 selves with the Grand Caiion of the Colo- 

 rado, the Yellowstone Park and the Yose- 

 mite. It can now be reached by good 

 wagon roads from Ashland, Medford and 

 Klamath Falls, but there are no regular 

 conveyances or stopping places. 



Crater Lake is a beautiful sheet of indigo- 

 blue water, about 6 miles in length by 4|- 

 in breadth. It occupies the crater or cal- 

 dron of an extinct volcano and is com- 

 pletely surrounded by a precipitous wall, 

 varying from 1,000 to something over 2,000 

 feet in height. A remarkably perfect and 

 symmetrical cinder cone with a crater at 

 its summit forms an island — Wizard Island 

 — which rises 840 feet above the surface of 

 the lake. The lake was sounded by Major 

 C. E. Dutton in 1886 and found to be 2,000 

 feet in greatest depth. Its surface tempera- 

 ture is 59° or 60° Fahr. The altitude of 

 the rim of the crater varies from about 

 7,000 to 8,200 feet. 



Crater Lake Mountain is covered with a 

 magnificent forest of conifers, arranged in 

 well marked belts or zones, from base to 

 summit. Beginning at the bottom (in the 

 Transition Zone) is a relativelj'" open forest 

 of huge yellow pines (^Piniis j^onderosa), 

 some of which measure 22 feet in circum- 

 ference. Mixed with these are some sugar 

 pines (^Pinus lamhertiana) and cedars (Libo- 

 cedrus decurrens). At an altitude of about 

 5,000 feet, on the south and southwest 

 slopes, the yellow pines give place to a 



