216 
The American (ivolotjist. 
October, 1893 
The close agreement of these daily means, the greatest dif- 
ference being only 28", not only stands as proof of the accu- 
racy attained by the observations, but also indicates a remark- 
able steadiness of atmospheric refraction. 
The following table gives the hight, above mean high tide, 
for each of the five occupied stations, also the elements for the 
determination of the hight of Mt. St. Elias, namely, the com- 
puted distances and the measured zenith distances, and finally 
the resulting nights : 
DETEKMINATION OF THE HIGHT OF MT. ST. ELIAS. 
Hight above 
Distance to 
Zenitli dist- 
Stations. 
mean 
Mt. 
ances of Mt. 
Hight of Mt. St. Elias. 
high tide. 
St. Elias. 
St. Elias. 
North Base. 
3.0 m. 
75,871 m. 
86° 08' 56' 
5,490.6 m., or 18,014 ft. 
South Base. 
7.4 " 
75.393 " 
86 07 26.4 
5,490.2 " " 18,012 " 
Mt. Hoorts. 
G33.0 " 
98,708 " 
87 33 09 
5,491 6 " " 18,017 " 
Ocean Cape. 
21.8 " 
102,841 " 
87 20 31 
5,490.8 " " 18,015 " 
Ast. Sta.... 
3.0 " 
103,322 " 
87 20 50.2 
5,486.3 " " 18,000 " 
Adopted mean hight, 18,010 feet. 
The tide observations which were made at Port Mulgrave 
by the hydrographic party during the same season indicate a 
hight of 4f feet for the greater one of the two diurnal tides 
above the mean level of the sea ; hence we may assume 18,015 
feet as the hight of Mt. St. Elias above the mean sea level. 
Mt. St. Elias therefore is 84 feet lower than measured by 
Prof. Russell, but decidedly within the limit of his assumed 
probable error ; it is 1,485 feet lower than computed by Dr. 
Dall ; but 2,665 feet higher than reported by Mr. Kerr. There 
is the same good agreement between the zenith distances and 
azimuths measured by Dr. Dall at Port Mulgrave, in 1874, 
and those by Turner in 1892, as there is between the latitude 
and longitude observations. 
What had long been suspected is now proved to be a fact, 
that Dr. Dall's only error consisted in putting too great con- 
fidence in the accuracy of his position at sea, which involved 
both the distance and hight of the mountain. 
The survey of 1892 furnishes the following position of Mt. 
St. Elias: Lat. 60° 17 35" N., Long. 140° 55' 20' W. of 
Greenwich. The position computed in 1891, and given in 
Petermann's Mittheilungen (vol. 38, p. 21) was Lat. 60° 17 
51", and Long. 140° 55' 30". 
