690 The American Naturalist. [August, 
THE SWAMPS OF OSWEGO COUNTY, N. Y., AND 
THEIR FLORA. 
By W. W. Row tee, 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y. 
POSITION OF OSWEGO COUNTY. 
Oswego County lies in the extreme northeastern corner of 
the Finger Lake Basin of central New York. Lake Ontario 
makes, at this point, a great bend to the north after having its 
shore line almost due east and west for upwards of one hun- 
dred and fifty miles. The lake consequently forms the north- . 
ern and a large part of the western boundary of the county. 
On the northeast are the foot-hills of the Adirondacks, some of 
which extend into the corner of the county. On the southeast 
is Oneida Lake and Oneida River, which occupy the lowest 
part of the general basin toward its eastern end, and south of 
which lie the hills forming the divide between this and the 
Susquehanna Basin. On the southwest there are no physical 
boundaries separating this county from adjoining ones. The 
county is part of the plain which extends west and southwest 
through several counties, the lowest points in which are occu- 
pied by Onondaga Lake, Seneca River, the Montezuma 
Marshes and Cayuga Lake. The plain narrows rather ab- 
ruptly to the southeast and leads over a very low divide into 
the valley of the Mohawk River. A comparatively narrow 
plain follows the lake shore north through Jefferson County. 
DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF THE COUNTY. 
The present drainage of Oswego County is peculiar. Os 
wego River, flowing as it does directly through the county, 
would naturally be expected to receive a considerable amount 
of the drainage. It, however, receives very little. A low di- 
vide extends from east to west through the central and west- 
ern parts of the county, the summit of which is about half- 
way between the north shore of Oneida Lake and the south 
shore of Lake Ontario. The summit of this divide is well- 
