EXPLANATION OF THE TABLES. 19 



In examining the climate of the different sections of the State, I have arranged it for 

 convenience in six divisions, as follows : 



1. Long Island; 



2. The valley of the Hudson ; 



3. The valley of the Mohawk; 



4. The region north and northwest of the valley of the Mohawk, extending from the east line of 



the State to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence; 



5. The region southwest of the valley of the Mohawk, extending from the valley of the Hudson 



to the vicinity of the smaller lakes; 



6. All that part of the State that lies west of the preceding divisions. 



EXPLANATION OF THE TABLES. 



In each division, I have arranged the facts selected to indicate the character of the 

 climate in three tables. The first is intended to show how the mean temperature of those 

 places where observations have been taken compares with that which is due to their latitude 

 and elevation, that we may see how much it is affected by other causes. 



In the second table, the mean temperature and annual extremes of heat and cold at 

 each place are compared with the average of the State during the same years. The sign 

 + denotes that the temperature of the place is higher, or the range of the thermometer 

 greater than the average of the State, by the number of degrees to which it is prefixed ; 

 and the sign — , the reverse. I have adopted this course, rather than to give the actual 

 mean and extreme temperatures, because I thought it would render the comparison more 

 striking ; since now the signs + and — show by a mere glance of the eye, without any 

 labor of computation, whether the temperature is higher or lower than the average of the 

 State. If, however, the actual temperatures are required, they can easily be found by 

 applying the numbers in this table to those in the standard table which I have mentioned 

 above, according to their signs. Thus, if the minimum temperature of a place is marked 

 + 2° in this table, it shows that it is higher by 2° than the average of the State ; and the 

 latter is found, by referring to the standard table, to be — 12°. Hence the minimum 

 temperature at the place in question is — 10°. 



Table III. shows the forwardness of the seasons at each place, as compared with the 

 average of the State during the same years. The sign + denotes that the time is later 

 than the average of the State, by the number of days to which it is prefixed ; and the sign 

 — , that it is earlier. The actual time may be found, as in the second table, by applying 

 the number of days given in this table to the dates in the standard table. 



3* 



