14 
VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE 
as would be desirable, yet every precaution seems to have been taken by those who had 
the general direction of them, to secure accurate results. Each observer is required to con¬ 
form to the rules laid down, and to certify under oath to the accuracy of his observations. 
I have attempted to deduce the law from these data; and though some anomalies may 
be noticed, yet the result on the whole is as satisfactory as could be expected. I have 
included also a series of observations taken at Williams College, just out of the limits of 
the State, not more than two or three miles from the line. In prosecuting the investiga¬ 
tion, I have compared iilaces two by two having nearly the same latitude but different 
elevations. In some cases where the latitudes differed too much, I have compared one 
place with the mean between two or three others. For example, I compared the tempe¬ 
rature of Canajoharie, whose latitude is 42° 53', with the mean of the temperatures of 
Cazenovia, Bridgwater and Hamilton, whose mean latitude is also 42° 53'. In making 
the comparison, I have uniformly employed the mean temperature of those years only in 
which they were reported from both the places compared. The following table shows 
the result: 
LOWER 
UPPER 
Difference 
Difference 
No. of years 
STATION. 
STATION. 
of level. 
for 1°. 
compared. 
Kinderhook . 
Oxford . 
836ft. 
658ft. 
12 
Albany. 
Hartwick. 
970 
334 
11 
Albany .> 
Lansingburgh ) 
Williams College* .... 
750 
275 
12 & 13 
Lansingburgh. 
Cherry-valley. 
1305 
332 
13 
Canajoharie. 
Cherry-valley . 
Cazenovia, } 
1051 
730 
3 
Canajoharie ... 
Bridgwater, > ... 
940 
663 
3, 2 & 3 
( 
Hamilton, } 
Utica. 
Fairfield. 
712 
349 
13 
Auburn . 
Pompey . 
650 
154 
14 
Ithacaf. 
Oxford . 
544 
206 
4 
Ithaca, \ 
Homer... 
664 
222 
8 & 5 
Aurora 5 ' 
Belleville*. 
Lowville . 
550 
276 
6 
Lewiston. 
Rochester. 
326 
265 
9 
* Elevation estimated. t The year 1837 omitted, on account of a supposed error in the record. 
The table shows very clearly that elevation exerts a perceptible influence on the tempe¬ 
rature, though with considerable apparent irregularity. Perfect uniformity could not be 
expected, and perhaps the deviation from a regular law is not greater than would natu¬ 
rally result from the different exposure of the thermometers at the different localities, and 
other accidental circumstances. In no instance where the difference in the level of two 
places amounted to 300 feet or more, and where the latitude of both was nearly the same, 
have I found the mean temperature of the lower station to be less than that of the upper. 
Utica, as compared with Fairfield, was an exception during the years 1831 to 1837, but not 
for the whole thirteen years embraced in the table. 
