67 



The City of Buffalo is situated at the foot, of Lake Erie, in 

 latitude 42 52' 46.26" N., and longitude i° 52' 57.1" W. of Wash- 

 ington: — the Lighthouse, at the mouth of Buffalo River, being taken 

 as the point of observation. Its mean annual temperature, deduced 

 from the daily observations of more than twenty years, is 48.39°, 

 Fahrenheit. Its mean temperature for the summer months averages 

 68. So , and for the winter months, 30. 22 . Its changes of tempera- 

 ture, although somewhat sudden, are in fact neither as extreme nor 

 as frequent as those of many places not very distant. Usually, in 

 summer, Montreal and Quebec have warmer days, and in winter, St. 

 Louis and Memphis, colder ones. Philadelphia, lying nearly 180 

 miles more southerly, has. a higher annual temperature of only six 

 degrees. 



The cause of this equability of climate is easily discovered. 

 Within the limits of Buffalo are eight miles of the shore of Lake 

 Erie and Niagara River. The waters of the lake, warmed by the 

 summer, later in the year impart their heat to the atmosphere, and 

 thus for a while, retard the approach of winter. The same cause, 

 acting in the opposite direction, delays the spring, (often for a con- 

 siderable time), and always moderates the heat of summer. But 

 these effects extend inland only a few miles. 



The height of Lake Erie has been ascertained to be 573 feet 

 above the ocean. The City of Buffalo nowhere occupies an eleva- 

 tion of more than 105 feet above the lake, and probably its average 

 height does not exceed 30 feet. But at the distance of 20 or 30 

 miles to the east and south, the ground is much higher; and there, 

 as might be expected, we find a much lower mean annual tempera- 

 ture. At Salamanca, in Cattaraugus County, distant 50 miles from 

 Buffalo, the mean annual temperature is only 45 , Fahr. 



For the last twenty- four years the average rain-fall at Buffalo 

 has been 36.47 inches. But towards the south and southeast the 

 usually lower temperature is accompanied by an increase in the 

 annual rain-fall. At Salamanca, above mentioned, it is 44 inches. 

 Whilst it may well be supposed that at all times, but especially in 

 summer, the lake imparts to the atmosphere some degree of moist- 

 ure, nevertheless, the climate at Buffalo, as compared with those of 

 places not very remote, must be regarded as dry. It may be of in- 

 terest to note that in Pennsylvania, and the middle and southerly 



