﻿132 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  Rensselaer 
  and 
  Saratoga 
  railroad 
  — 
  nearly 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  — 
  

   and, 
  above 
  the 
  fall, 
  from 
  the 
  upper 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  pot-hole 
  district 
  

   to 
  the 
  dam 
  of 
  the 
  Cohoes 
  company, 
  above 
  which 
  point 
  the 
  depth 
  

   of 
  the 
  water 
  prevented 
  an 
  examination. 
  Over 
  considerable 
  por- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  these 
  areas 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  pot-holes. 
  For 
  a 
  half 
  mile 
  below 
  

   the 
  fall 
  the 
  pot-holes 
  are 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  channel, 
  having 
  here 
  an 
  

   average 
  width 
  of 
  less 
  than 
  100 
  feet, 
  while 
  the 
  river 
  bed 
  is 
  800 
  

   feet 
  broad. 
  The 
  plateau 
  on 
  each 
  side 
  varies 
  from 
  300 
  feet 
  to 
  

   400 
  feet 
  in 
  width 
  and 
  is 
  terminated 
  (with 
  unimportant 
  exceptions) 
  

   by 
  a 
  precipitous 
  cliff. 
  There 
  is 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  river 
  at 
  

   this 
  point 
  has 
  not 
  always 
  maintained 
  its 
  present 
  width. 
  The 
  great 
  

   depth 
  of 
  the 
  summer 
  channel 
  indicates 
  that 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  fall 
  

   has, 
  during 
  its 
  recession, 
  been 
  nearly 
  as 
  low 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  ; 
  but 
  no 
  

   vestige 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  previous 
  basin 
  of 
  a 
  broad 
  fall 
  like 
  the 
  

   present. 
  The 
  recession 
  of 
  the 
  cliff 
  (considered 
  on 
  another 
  page) 
  

   readily 
  accounts 
  for 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  a 
  broad 
  bed 
  after 
  the 
  pas- 
  

   sage 
  of 
  the 
  receding 
  fall. 
  This 
  hypothesis, 
  according 
  with 
  nearly 
  

   all 
  the 
  present 
  phenomena, 
  seemed 
  controverted 
  by 
  the 
  question 
  — 
  

   how 
  came 
  about 
  the 
  sudden 
  widening 
  of 
  the 
  cataract, 
  from 
  100 
  or 
  

   150 
  feet 
  to 
  950 
  feet, 
  in 
  a 
  homogeneous 
  rock 
  ? 
  I 
  think, 
  however, 
  

   an 
  answer 
  was 
  furnished 
  by 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  a 
  cluster 
  of 
  large 
  

   ancient 
  pot-holes 
  at 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  fall. 
  We 
  have 
  only 
  to 
  

   postulate 
  an 
  extension 
  of 
  this 
  series 
  across 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  

   fall-basin, 
  and 
  the 
  needed 
  lessening 
  of 
  the 
  resistance 
  of 
  the 
  rock 
  

   is 
  attained. 
  The 
  broader 
  fall 
  would 
  recede 
  less 
  rapidly 
  than 
  the 
  

   narrower, 
  and 
  afford 
  time 
  for 
  the 
  excavation 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  width 
  

   of 
  fforo-e. 
  

  

  Lake. 
  — 
  The 
  "lake" 
  (a 
  title 
  applicable 
  only 
  in 
  summer 
  to 
  

   a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  above 
  the 
  fall) 
  is 
  drained 
  in 
  summer 
  by 
  

   several 
  small 
  streams 
  that 
  many 
  times 
  unite 
  and 
  divide 
  in 
  passing 
  

   to 
  the 
  brink 
  of 
  the 
  fall, 
  but 
  wash, 
  on 
  their 
  way, 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   deeper 
  pot-holes. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  streams 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  decidedly 
  

   larger 
  than 
  the 
  others, 
  and 
  must, 
  I 
  think, 
  not 
  only 
  maintain, 
  but 
  

   increase 
  its 
  superiority, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  comprise, 
  first 
  the 
  summer 
  flow, 
  

   and 
  finally 
  the 
  entire 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  reducing 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  cen- 
  

   turies 
  or 
  scores 
  of 
  centuries 
  to 
  a 
  condition 
  analogous 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  

   state 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Portage 
  fall, 
  and 
  ultimately 
  leaving 
  only 
  a 
  

   transverse 
  row 
  of 
  pot-holes 
  to 
  mark 
  the 
  abnormal 
  width 
  of 
  Cohoes 
  

   Falls. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  no 
  hypothesis 
  to 
  offer 
  for 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  lake. 
  A 
  

  

  