1854] 



ON THE PERIODICAL RISE AND FALL OF THE LAKES. 



295 



What Mr. Carver relates concerning this subject rather tends to 

 confirm the opinion that the waters of the Lake do rise periodically. 

 " I had like (he says) to have omitted a very extraordinary cir- 

 cumstance relative to these Straits (of Michillimackinac, between 

 Lakes Michigan and Huron). According to observations made 

 by the French, whilst they were in possession of the fort there, 

 although there is no diurnal flood or ebb to be perceived in these 

 waters, yet from an exact attention to their state a periodical 

 alteration has been discovered. It was observed that they arose 

 by gradual but almost imperceptible degrees till they had reached 

 the height of three feet This was accomplished in seven and a 

 half years; and in the same space of time they as gently de- 

 creased, till they had reached their former situation. JSo that in 

 fifteen years they had completed their inexplicable revolution. 

 At the time I was there, the truth of these observations could 

 not be confirmed by the English, as they had then been only a 

 few years in possession of the fort, but they all agreed that some 

 alteration in the limits of the Straits was apparent." " It is to 

 be lamented (judiciously added Mr. Weld) that succeeding years 

 have not thrown more light on this subject. ... A long 

 series of observations are necessary to determine positively whe- 

 ther the waters of the Lakes do or do not rise and fall periodi- 

 cally. It is well known, for instance, that in wet seasons they 

 rise much above the ordinary level, and that in very dry seasons 

 they sink considerably below it; a close attention, therefore, 

 ought to be paid to the quantity of rain that falls, and to evapo- 

 ration ; and it ought to be ascertained in what degree the height 

 of the Lake is altered thereby, otherwise, if it happens to be 

 higher or lower than usual on the seventh year, it would be im- 

 possible to say with accuracy whether it were owing to the state 

 of the weather, or to certain laws of nature, that we are as yet 

 unacquainted with. At the same time great attention ought to 

 be paid to the state of the winds, as well in respect to their di- 

 rection as to their velocity — for the height of the water in all 

 the Lakes is materially affected thereby. Moreover, these 

 observations ought not to be made at one place only, but at dif- 

 ferent places at the same time. . . . 



" It is also believed by many persons that the waters of Lake 

 Ontario not only rise and fall periodically every seventh year, 

 but that they are likewise influenced by a tide which ebbs and 

 flows frequently in the course of twenty-four hours — as, for in- 

 stance, in the Bay of Quiute, where it has been observed to rise 

 fourteen inches every four hours. But there can be no doubt 

 that this must be caused by the wind — no such regular fluctua- 

 tion being observed at Kingston, and this Bay being a long 

 crooked inlet, that grows narrower at the upper end; and there- 

 fore not only a change of wind up and down would make a dif- 

 ference at the upper extremity, but the waters, being concen- 

 trated there, would be seen to rise or fall, if impelled even in the 

 same direction, whether up or down, more or less forcibly at one 

 part of the day than another. . . An appearance like a tide 

 must therefore be seen almost constantly at the head of this 

 Bay, whenever there is a breeze. I could' not learn that the 

 fluctuation had ever been observed during a perfect calm ; were 

 the waters, however, influenced by a regular tide, during a calm, 

 that would be most readily seen.'' 



a few verbal errors ; but whatever their defects may be, compared with 

 the originals, the reader may be assured that there was no intention to alter 

 or distort the meaning or merits of the author, and that they may therefore 

 be considered as a faithful epitome of more extended observations. 



* The destruction of these trees would depend more on the length of 

 lime they were inundated, than on the mere fact of their having" been 

 tcmporaiily flooded. — R. L. 



Reserving any comments on the foregoing pertinent extracts 

 for a future page, I proceed to remark, that such continued to 

 be the unsatisfactory amount of information on this interesting 

 debateable philosophical question, till about 1819, when Capt. 

 (afterwards Col.) Whiting, of the American Army, at length re- 

 curring to the exciting subject, made, at the request of Governor 

 Cass, a series of regular observations upon these oceanic appear- 

 ances, during seven or eight days, in the month of June, serving 

 to show that at that remarkable inlet, Green Bay, there is a daily 

 rise and fall, but that it is irregular as to the precise period of 

 flux and reflux, and also as to the height which it attains;* and 

 yet such was the variety of opinion among local residents on the 

 fact, that he is compelled to state, in the course of his remarks, 

 that being led to suppose that the winter would be the most fa- 

 vourable time for making such observations, when the superin- 

 cumbent ice would nearly destroy the influence of the winds, and 

 show the unassisted operation of the tide, he made enquiries as 

 to its appearance during that season, when one gentleman in- 

 formed him that no tide was then discernible, while another, 

 equalty intelligent, assured him that it was very apparent, and 

 that there was a regular elevation and depression of the ice! 



From all which conflicting circumstances (as judiciously ob- 

 served by (I think) Mr. Schoolcraft in the same article) there 

 was reason to conclude that a well-conducted series of experi- 

 ments would prove that there are no regular tides in the Lakes; 

 at least, that they do not ebb and flow twice in twenty-four hours, 

 like those of the ocean; that the oscillating motion of the waters 

 is therefore not attributable to planetary attraction; and that it 

 is very variable as to the periods of its flux and reflux, depend- 

 ing upon the levels of the several Lakes, their length, depth, di- 

 rection, and conformation, upon the prevalent winds and tempe- 

 rature, and upon other extraneous causes, which are in some 

 measure variable in their nature, and unsteady in their operation. 



Colonel Whiting further remarks in another interesting 

 article on the supposed tides and periodical rise and fall of the 

 North American Lakes,-)- in which is given a table of observa- 

 tions, kept at Green Bay, in six weeks, July and August, 1S28, 

 that an examination of that record would satisfy any one that 

 planetary influence had little or nothing to do with the changes 

 of elevation in the waters there noted ; and that it was as certain 

 that the fluctuations in some places appear to be independent of 

 atmospheric as of lunar control; as, by consulting that tabic, 

 there would probably not be found one instance where the time 

 of high water tallies with the moon's southing, admitting the 

 usual retardation. And further, that it would also be seen that 

 the changes of elevation were independent of the course of the 

 wind; for that the fluctuation continues, notwithstanding the 

 winds remaining the same. He, therefore, came to the conclusion 

 that,reasoningfrom our knowledge of the greatinland waters of the 

 other hemisphere, we should take it for granted that the North 

 American Lakes have no sensible tides; the Caspian, Black, and 

 Baltic Seas being said to have none worthy of observation, and 

 even the Mediterranean being indebted to the sharp-sightedness 

 of modern times for the knowledge of there being such a phe- 

 nomenon on her wide-spread bosom. J Col. Whiting, however 

 subsequently remarks, writing in 1830, with regard to what 

 General Dearborn terms "the periodical increase of the whole 

 volume of waters in the American Lakes," that it is the popular 

 tradition on these Lakes that there has been a rise and fall once 



f See American Journal of Science, Vol. 16, pp. 90 and 91. 

 X See American Journal of Science, Vol. 20, pp. 205 to 219. 

 5 See close of this article. — R. L. 



