GENERAL FEATURES. 
1 5 
phere produces instant precipitation of the excess of moisture above 
the degree to which the temperature has been lowered. Therefore, 
the temperature and dew point being low in this great wilderness, and 
a large amount of moisture being given off, both from the dense 
forests themselves, and from the multitude of lakes and swamps scat- 
tered over its surface, the atmosphere is often saturated, and showers 
during the summer season are of frequent occurrence. The conforma- 
tion of the country, too, favors precipitation within its own borders, 
for a wind, from whatsoever direction blowing, could not easily 
convey the lower vapor-laden atmosphere away without coming 
in contact with some cool area or mountain side that would so lower 
its temperature as to cause instant precipitation. Clouds carried over 
the Adirondacks from a distance would, when sufficiently low, share 
the same fate, and disappear in showers over the foot-hills. 
And such is, in fact, the case; for a long residence overlooking a 
considerable portion of the western slope of the region has enabled 
me to observe repeatedly, not only occasional showers, but sometimes 
even whole days of more or less continuous rain there, when not a 
drop, or at most a slight shower, fell at the point of observation, only 
twelve or fifteen miles distant. 
5. -GENERAL FEATURES.' 
We have found, then, that the atmospheric and general climatic 
conditions, over this area, favor the production of a luxuriance of 
vegetation; and, on the other hand, the conformation of the land and 
the density of the forests and undergrowth tend to lower the temper- 
ature and increase the humidity — interacting causes whose effect 
upon florae and faunae has hardly received the attention it deserves. 
The deep beds of moss upon the mountain tops consist chiefly of 
species of Sphagnum and the “ Shining Feather Moss ” ( Hypnum 
splendens ), over which runs, in various places, the pretty Creeping 
Snow-berry ( Chiogenes hispidula ) and the lovely twin bell-flowers 
of Limuea borealis. Other still more characteristic marsh plants grow 
