Baeometrioal Measurement of Mt. Seward. 



179 



" Station I^o. 1, barometer rising 0.004 inches hourly. 

 " 2, '' rising 0.010 " " 



" 3, " falling 0.002 " " 



'" As the longitude of Mt. Seward does not differ more than one 

 minute of time from that of the Dudley Observatory, the observations 

 may be directly compared with our own, without any sensible error. 



'' The following results have been deduced : 





STATION. 



Height above the 

 Dudley Observat'y. 



Height above 

 tide-water. 



]^umber 1 



1,544 feet. 

 3,773 " 



4,292 " 



1,714 feet. 



" 2 



3,943 " 



" 3 



4,462 " 







'' The height of the barometer at the Dudley Observatory is^ 

 assumed to be 170 feet above tide in the Hudson river. 



Yery truly yours, 



O. W. HOUGH, 



" Yerplanck CoLvm, Esq." 



DirectoT^ 



Before closing this report, I desire to call your attention to a sub- 

 ject of much importance. The Adirondack wilderness contains the 

 springs which are the sources of our principal rivers, and the feeders 

 of the canals. Each summer the water supply for these rivers and 

 canals is lessened, and commerce has suffered. The United States 

 government has been called upon, and has expended vast sums in 

 the improvement of the navigation of the Hudson ; yet the secret 

 origin of the difficulty seems not to have been reached. 



The immediate cause has been the chopping and burning off of 

 vast tracts of forest in the wilderness, which have hitherto sheltered 

 from the sun's heat and evaporation the deep and lingering snows, 

 the brooks and rivulets, and the thick, soaking, sphagnous moss 

 which, at times knee-deep, half water and half plant, forms hanging 

 lakes upon the mountain sides ; throwing out constantly a chilly 

 atmosphere, which condenses to clouds the warm vapor of the winds, 

 and still reacting, resolves them into rain. 



It is impossible for those who have not visited this region to 

 realize the abundance, luxuriance and depth which these peaty 

 mosses — the true sources of our rivers — attain under the shade of 



