Mounts St. Elias and Orizaba. — Lindenkohl. 217 
The magnetic variation was determined on Sept. 2. 3, and 
4, near the astronomical station, and found to be 29° 5S 9 
east. 
Mount Orizaba.* 
The hight of Mt. St. Elias obtained in 1892 has direct 
bearing upon the question of the highest peak on the North 
American continent. Towards the early part of 1892 it was 
in suspense between Mt. St. Elias and Mt. Orizaba in Mexico, 
with a lead of about 200 feet in favor of the latter. This 
supposition has been confirmed by the measurements made 
by Mr. J. T. Scovell of Terre Haute, Ind., in the years 1891 
and 1892. f 
In 1891 Mr. Scovell reached the altitude of 14,000 feet by 
levelling, and thence he made two ascents of the peak, mak- 
ing two barometric determinations of its hight, which gave 
a mean of 18,179.16 feet. In 1892 he commenced his survey 
at Chalchicomula, the elevation of which, 8,313.571, feet he 
took from the profile of the railroad to Vera Cruz, and from 
this point he carried a line of levels until he reached the ele- 
vation of 13,000 feet. Here he measured a base of 1,550 feet, 
and observed the necessary angles for the computation of the 
hight of the peak above each end of the base. Thus he ob- 
tained as the mean hight, 18,314.156 feet. The publication 
of this result caused some surprise in our geographical cir- 
cles, as this hight is greater than Orizaba had been previ- 
ously credited with. To make sure that no error had crept 
into the calculation. Mr. C. A. Schott, at the suggestion of Dr. 
Mendenhall, made an independent computation of Mr. Sco- 
vell's observations, which gave 18,315.8 feet as the hight. 
The small difference of 1.6 feet is probably a consequence of 
the employment of different coefficients of refraction. 
Without committing myself to the accuracy of decimal 
fractions, the contemplation of the above figures does not ap- 
pear to leave an}' alternative for St. Elias but that of Lower- 
ing its flag in sight of Orizaba. 
[*Commonly so-called from the city on its eastern slope; but its 
native name is Citlaltepetl, meaning star mountain. See A.m. Geolo- 
gist for last June, p. 426, and articles by Mr. J. T. Scovell in Am. Nat- 
uralist, vol. xxiv, pp.761-5, Aug., 1890, and in Science, vol. xxi, pp. 263-7, 
May 12, 1893.— Eds.] 
tAm. Naturalist, Oct., 1892, pp. 804-5. 
