THE LAKE AND BROOK LAMPREYS OF NEW 

 YORK, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF CAYUGA AND 

 SENECA LAKES. 



By SinON HENRY GAQE. 



If one glances at a topographical map of the State of New 

 York, there will be seen in the western half a remarkable 

 series of long narrow lakes, with a general north and south 

 direction. These lakes occupy a basin between Lake Ontario 

 on the north and a ridge that separates this basin from the 

 Mohawk River on the south-east, and the Susquehanna River 

 and its tributaries on the south. This elevation bor- 

 dering the lake basin on the east, south and west, and forming 

 nearly a semicircle, is drained to the north into the lakes, and 

 into the Susquehanna and Mohawk Rivers on the south. The 

 area of elevation draining into the Mohawk, and thence to 

 the Hudson River is, however, comparatively slight. 



The central and largest of these lakes is Cayuga ( PI. 2), 

 flanked on the west by Seneca, next in size, then come Keuka, 

 or Crooked, and Canandaigua Lakes. On the east are, in order, 

 Ovvasco, Skaneateles, Onondaga and Oneida Lakes. In ad- 

 dition to these are numerous small lakes or ponds scattered 

 among the large ones. A further study of the map will show 

 that all of these lakes have important tributaries especially at 

 the head. The outlet either flows into one of the larger lakes 

 or directly into a common outlet. The final destination of all 

 the superfluous water is Lake Ontario, through the Oswego 

 River ; and thence through the St. Lawrence River it reaches 

 the Atlantic Ocean, 700 to 800 miles to the eastward. With 

 the other great lakes the connection is by the Niagara River, 

 the falls forming, at the present time, an impassible barrier 

 against the passage of fishes from Lake Ontario to the other 

 great lakes. 



