Lake Superior: its physical character, vegetation, and animals, compared with those of other and similar regions

Preface

The main object of the excursion, the results of which are given in the following pages, was a purely scientific one, viz. : the study of the Natural History of the northern shore of Lake Superior. Another end proposed by Professor Agassiz, was, to afford to those of the party who were unaccustomed to the practical investigation of natural phenomena, an opportunity of exercising themselves under his direction.

The party was composed of the following gentlemen : Prof Agassiz and Dr. William Keller, instructors, and Messrs. George Belknap and Charles G. Kendall, students, of the Lawrence Scientific School ; Messrs. James McC. Lea, GeorgeH. Timmins, and Freeman Tompkins, of the Dane Law School ; Messrs. Eugene A. Hoffman, Charles G. Loring, Jonathan C. Stone, and Jefferson Wiley, of the senior class of Harvard College ; Messrs. Joseph P. Gardner and J. Elliot Cabot, of Boston ; Drs. John L. Le Conte and Arthur Stout, of New York ; and M. Jules Marcou, of Paris.

Interspersed throughout the Narrative are reports, carefully made at the time, of the Professor's remarks on various points of Natural History, that seemed to him

IV PREFACE.

likely to interest a wider circle than those more particularly addressed in the second part of the book, which consists of papers on various points connected with the Natural History of the region, written, where liot otherwise specified, by Prof Agassiz. This portion of the work, however, does not aim at a mere detail of facts, but is intended to show the bearing of these facts upon general questions.

The Landscape Illustrations are taken from sketches made on the spot, by Mr. Cabot. Those of the Second Part were drawn and lithographed by Mr. Sonrel, a Swiss artist of much distinction in this branch, and formerly employed by Prof Agassiz at Neuchatel, but now resident in this country.

Boston, March, 1850.

Contents

I. NARRATIVE.

Chap. I

BOSTON TO THE SAULT DE ST. MARIE.

Boston to Albany — Lecture from the Professor — Valley of the Mohawk — Population of German descent — Wild scener}"- of Western New York — Niagara — Remarks by Prof. Agassiz on the Geology and Botany of this Region — Lunar rainbow — The suspension bridge — Rattlesnakes — Peculiar color of the water — Steamer to the foot of the Falls — Buffalo — Steamer for Mackinaw — Botanical Lecture — The Great Lakes — Boat in distress — Cleveland — Detroit — Lake St. Clair — Flats — Lake Huron — Northern character of the scenery — Meteorological phenomenon — Mackmaw — Fishing party and Lecture on Fishes — Boat for the Sault — Les mouches — First experiment of camping out — The Detour — St. Joseph's Island and the Major — Passage up the St. Mary's Straits — Musquitoes — Arrival at the Sault 9-31

Chap. II. The Sault To Fort William

The Sault — Dissolute character of the population — Lecture on Fishes of the Sault — The black fly — Lecture on the Classification of Birds — Embarcation on Lake Superior — Canoes — Canadian voyageurs and Indians — The Pointe aux Pins — Voyageur's bread — Entrance of the lake — Resemblance to the sea-coast — Les gens du Lac — Arrangement of the messes — Routine of the day — Provisions — Drift-scratches and grooves — Mineralogical remarks by the Professor — Grand scenery of the lake — Catching the lake trout— Character of rocks and trees — Great variations of temperature — Coldness of the water — Mica Bay — Hospitality ■ of Capt. Matthews— A proof of the " Glacial Theory"— Montreal River — Large red pines — Tamias quadrivittatus — Indian pictures — Transparency of the water — Cautiousness of the voyageurs — Boat songs — Fishing Indians — Toad River — Character of river-mouths on the lake — Increasing grandeur of the scenery — Brilliancy of the lichens — Agate Bay — Indian legend— Cape Choyye — Pot-holes— Snow — Michipicotin River — The factory — The plague of flies — Indian hunters— 1*

VI CONTENTS.

The fill- trade — Climate — The fisheries — Our voyageurs — Terraces — E.iv. a la Chienne — An Indian tombstone — Les Ecrits — Character of the woods — Cliffs — Otter Head — A cedar swamp — Alteration of temperature — The Northern Lights — The Pic — Birds and fishes — One of the party ill with fever — Drowned insects — Pic Island — Fires in the woods^ — Caribous — Parus Hudsonicus — Terraces — The Professor's remarks on Metallic Veins — Les Petits Ecrits — Islands — An Indian Eamily — Usnea — St. Ignace — Deserted Mining Location — Ascent of Mt. Cambridge — Furrows on the beaches — Masses of lichen — Ripple marks — Thunder Cape — Fort William — The Kaministiquia River — The Fort — Acjuatic Cows — Excursion to Kakabeka Falls — Paddles and oars — The river — A DC-charge — Character of the interior of this region — Heavy dew — The Falls 31-89

CHAP. IIL

FORT WILLI/VM BACK TO THE SAULT.

The Pate — Remarks by the Professor on the Distribution of Animals and Plants — Prince's Location — Minerals — Spar Island — the Victoria Islands — The Professor's remarks on Mineral Veins — Swell on the lake — Structure of the Pate — Varieties of the lake trout — Spawning of the various fishes of the lake — Gulls breeding — Sails of birch bark — Neepigon Bay — Cape Gourgan — Deserted mining location — Prof. Agassiz on the Outlines of Continents — The miner's huts — Conjectures as to their winter life — Scudding before the wind — " Dirty Water"-i-Head winds — Remarkable trap dyke — Terraces measured — Black River — Intricacy of the woods — Falls of Black River — Lecture on the Drift Formations of the Lake — The brown bear — Drift wood — Habits of the grouse — An Es'iuimaux dog — A port in a storm — Degrades — Lake contrasts — La Viello — A sweating house — Difference in vegetation — Trap dykes — Half breeds — A calm on the lake — Foxes — Trout fishing — Michipicotin again — Moisture of the atmosphere — Indian dogs — Excursion to Michipicotin Falls — Features of the country — The Portage — The Falls — Palcontological pot-holes — The Sandy Islands — A fox in exile — "Fran- 9ais" and " Sauvages" — Difficult embarcation — Gros Cap — White flowering raspberry — The outlet of the lake — Arrive all together — Shooting the Rapids 89-123

Chap. IV. From The Sault Homewards

Description of Lake Superior — Steamer for Sturgeon Bay — Scenery of the St. Mary's Straits — The Bruce Mine — Miners inj ured by an explosion — St. Joseph's — Remarkable boulder — Observations on it by the Professor — The Theologico-geological question mooted — The Grand Manitouliu— The "presents" to the Indians — Gross injustice of the present system — Penetanguishene — Sturgeon Bay — A rough road — Change in veg-

CONTENTS. Vn

etation — Cold Water — Lake Simcoe — Holland landing — St. Albans — Country on the Toronto road — Toronto — Lockport — Ileraarkable drift groove — Home 123-133

II. NATURAL HISTORY.

THE NORTHERN VEGETATION COMPARED WITH THAT OF THE JURA AND THE ALPS.

Geographical distribution ; animals and plants not scattered at random over the face of the earth ; causes of this; temperature, 137. — Moisture; light; atmospheric pressure, 138. — Evinced in the fragrance of Alpine flovv^ers, 139. — Electricity; geographical features, 140, 141. — But physical agents not originally causative ; peculiarities of North America; latitude, 142. — Limits of these agencies, 144. — EA'idenccs of a Supreme Intelligence, 145. — CoRparison of vegetation of temperate regions, 146, 147. — Of Alpine and Northern vegetation, 148-9. — Of recent and fossU species ; coincidence of EurojDean tertiary fossils with living species in America, 150-2 .'. 137-152

II

OBSERVATIONS ON THE VEGETATION OF THE NORTHERN SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

Agreement of vegetation of Lake Superior with that of the higher tracts of the Jura, 153. — Parallel lists of the plants of these regions, 154-170. — Enumeration of lichens collected at Lake Superior, 170-4. — Parallel lists of Lake Superior plants in general and their analogues in Europe, 175-9. — Comparison of the vegetation of North America in general with that of Switzerland, 179-188. — List of European plants observed along several lines of railroad, 188-90 153-190

III. CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS FROM EMBRYONIC AND PALiEOZOIC DATA

Internal structure an insufficient basis for classification, 191-2. — Embryonic features of various animals, as denoting a respectively inferior rank, 193-200 191-200

IV

GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE COLEOPTERA OF LAKE SUPERIOR. BY DR. JOHN I. LECOXTE.

Geographical distribution, 201-2. — List of species collected, 203-239. — Observations on the characters of the insect fauna of Lake Superior, 239-241. — Account of the larva and pupa of a coleopterous insect from Niagara Falls, referred by Dekay to the Crustaceans, 241-2 201-242 vm CONTENTS.

V

CATALOGUE OF SHELLS, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. BT DB. A. A. GOULD.

Catalogue 243-245

VI

PISHES OF LAKE SUPERIOR COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THE OTHER GREAT CANADIAN

LAKES.

Geographical distribution ; the prevalence of general laws over mere peculiarities of position and circumstances, 246-7. — Migrating animals do not wander, but regularly return ; light thrown on the question of unity or plurality of creations by the examination of the fishes of Lake Superior, 248. — Examination of the question whether the Petromyzons should form a subclass by themselves, or be classed with the skates and sharks, and conclusion that they are simply embryonic forms of the latter type, 249-52. — Description of Ammoccetes borealis, 252-4. — Lepidosteus, as showing the reptilian character of the ancient fishes, 254-63. — ^The sturgeons ; their geographical distribution, 263-4. — Circumscribed within narrow limits in vaiious parts of the world, yet linked together by intermediate forms ; peculiarity of their distribution in America, 265-6. — Acipenser kevis, Agass., 267-71. — A. carbonarius, Agass., 271-6. — A. rynchaus, Agass., 276-7. — A. Rupertianus, 277-8. — On the position of the Siluridse and Goniodonts as aberrant families of the order of Gadoids, 278-9. — The genus Pimelodus ; probably to be further subdivided ; remarks on several species, 279-80. — P. felts, Agass., 281-4. — Genus Percopsis, Agass., representative of an ancient type of the tertiary period ; intermediate between Percoids and Salmonidse, 284-5. — P. gutiatm, Agass., 286-9. — Percoids ; great difference in their distribution, between Lake Superior and the Lower Lakes, 289-91. — Observations on Perca flavescens, 291-3. — On Potnotis vulf/aris, 293. — Lucioperca Americana; value of the opercular spines as distinctive mark in this genus, 294-5. — Grystes fasciatus, Agass., 295-7. Huro nigricans, Cuv., a Grystes, 297. — Cottoids ; importance of correct appreciation of the connecting character, rather than the amount of external variation, in classification, 297-8. — Subfamily of Etheostomata ; Etheostoma; Pileoma; P^cilosoma, Agass., Boleosoma, 298-9. — Cottus ; character of genus ; various opinions as to number of species, 300. — C. Richanhoni, Agass.. 300-3.— C. FranJdini, Agass., 303-4.— BoLEOsoMA, characters of, 304. — B. mactilatum, Agass., 305-7. — Pileoma; characters of this genus, 307-8. — P. zebra, Agass., 308-10.— Gasterosfeiis ncbulosus, Agass., 310-14. — G. pygm(eus, Agass., 314-15. — Family EsociD^, 315-17. — Esox boreus, Agass., 317-21. — Family Gadoids ; obscurity of their real affinities ; disagreements and uncertainties as to certain North American genera and species, 321-4. — Lota maculosa.

CONTENTS. IX

32.')-6. — Family SALMONiniE, observations on their classification and gcof^raphical distribution, 326. — Showing plan of Sujjrcrae Intelligence, 327-30. — Salmo fontinalis, 330-31. — S. namaycush, observations upon,

331-3 iS. siscmoct, Agass., 333-36. — Coregonus, observations on the,

336-9. — C. chqKiformis, 339-42. — C albus, 342-4. — 6'. sapidissimus, Agass., 344-4S. — C. latior, Agass., 348-51. — C. quadrilateralis, 351-2. — Family CyppaxoiDS, distribution, 352-3. — Rhinichthys, Agass., 353-4. — R. marmoratus, Agass., 354-6. — Catostomus, difficulties in the study of this genus, 356-7. — C. aureolus, 327. — C. Forsteriamis, Agass., 358-60. — C atirora, Agass., 3G1-3. — Albuenus, 363. — A. rubellus, Agass., 364-6. Gobio 2)lumbeus, Agass., 366-8. — Leucisciis frontalis, Agass., 368-70. — L. gracilis, Agass., 370-2. — L. Hudsonius, 372-3. — General observations ; all freshwater fishes of North America different from those of Europe ; I^ake Sviperior and the lakes north of it constitute a distinct zoological district, 373-5. — These fishes must haA^e been created where they now live, 376.— Deductions from this fact, 377 246-377

VII

DESCRIPTION OF SOME NEW SPECIES OP REPTILES FROM THE REGION OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

Hylodes maculatus, Agass., 378-9. — Rana nigricans, Agass., 379-80. — Crotophoriis, sp., probably identical with C. tergcminus, 381. — Further list of reptiles of Lake Superior ; large size of some species ; turtles not found on northern shores of the lake, 382 378-382

VIII

REPORT ON THE BIRDS COLLECTED AND OBSERVED AT LAKE SUPERIOR. BT J. E. CABOT.

Striking scarcity of birds and quadrupeds ; causes of this, 383-4. — List of species, 384-5 383-385

IX

DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME SPECIES OF LEPIDOPTERA, FROM THE NORTHERN SHORES OF

LAKE SUPERIOR.

BY DR. THABDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS.

desta, 388-9. — Hepiolus argenteo-maculatus, 389-90 Arctia parthenos,

390-1. — Arctia Americana, 391. — Ennomos macularia, 392. — List of Lepidopterous insects, taken by Professor L. Agassiz on the northern shore of Lake Superior, 392-4 386-394

X. The Erratic Phenomena About Lake Superior

The most minute and careful investigation of drift by the glacialists ; whereas their opponents simply deny, 395. — The various erratic basins

X CONTENTS.

of Switzerland distinct, and the materials in well- determined order, 396. — Similar phenomena observed in other parts of Europe, 396-7. — Points necessary to be settled ; lirst, the relation in time and character, between the Northern and the Alpine erratics, 397. — Traced in North America, 397-8. — Not yet settled whether any local centres of distribution in this country ; but the general cause must have acted in all paits simultaneously, 398. — The action ceased at 35° north latitude; this incompatible with the notion of currents, 399. — In both hemispheres a direct reference to the polar regions, 400. — Diihculty as to so extensive formation of ice, removed ; difficulties on the theory of currents, the effects contrary to experience of water-action, 401. — Erratic phenomena of Lake Superior, 401-4. — The iceberg theory, 405-6. — Description of appearances at Lake Superior, 406-9. — Drift ; contains mud, and is without fossils, 409. — Example of juxtaposition of stratified and unptratified drift, at Cambridge, 410. — Date of these phenonema not fully determined, but doubtless simultaneous all over the globe, 410-411. — The various periods and kinds of drift distinguished, 412. — Accompanied by change of level in the continent ; terraces at Lake Superior, 413-14. — Not fi'om a subsidence of the water, but from upheaval of the land, 414-416 395-416

XL

THE OUTLINES OP LAKE SUrERIOR.

The present phj'sical state of oux globe the result of gradual and successive changes, 417. — Necessity of studying out in detail minor aird secondary phenomena, 418. — Position and general features of the Great Lakes, 419-20. — Lake Superior; the dykes correspond in direction with the trend of the shores, 420. — Details, 421-2. — Enumeration of the various systems of dykes, 423-4. — These dykes have cut up the primitive formations so as to produce the jn-esent outlines of the lake, 424-5. — The rocks of Lake Superior as evidence that the erratics of more southern localities were derived from the primitive range extending north of the lakes to the Atlantic, 425-6 417-426

XII. Geological Relations Of The Various Copper Deposits Op Lake Superior

The distribution of the copper ores at Lake Superior, as indicating their origin ; the native copper plutonic and unchanged near the centre of eruption, but modified and combined at a distance, 427-428

ILLUSTRATIONS.

I. LANDSCAPES.

Page.

1. Lake Terraces near Black River Frontispiece.

2. Rn'ER Terraces, Toad River 54

3. Camp at Michipicotin 62

4. Island of St. Ignace 78

5. Thunder Cape 80

6. Kakabeka Falls 86

7. Rapids, Black River 101

8. Pic Island lOG n. NATURAL HISTORY.

1 . Percopsis GUTTATU8 ; Salmo siscowet 333

2. Rhinichthys marmoratus ; Catostomus aurora 354

3. Alburnus rubellus ; Leuciscus frontalis 364

4. Gasterosteus pygmjEus ; G. nebulosus ; Boleosoma maculatum ; Ethe-

OSTOMA ZEBRA 305

5. ACIPENSER CARBONARIUS 271

6. Hylodes MACULATUS ; Rana nigricans; and a Crotalophorus 378

7. Seven species of Lepidoptera, and two new shells 387

8. Twelve new species of Coleoptera 239

9. The outlines of Lake Superior, showing the several systems of dykes,

and the direction of the glacial scratches in various localities 417

ERRATA.

Page 10, Note, for Tocelyn read Jocelyn.

Page 31, for SauH to Michijjicotin read Sault to Fort William. Page 58, for Jtniijjenis Virginianus read J. virginimia.

Page 384, first line of list, the specific names cedrorum and cacalotl should exchange places.

LAKE SUPERIOR.

NAREATIYE.

Chapter I

BOSTON TO THE SAULT DE ST. MARIE.

We left Boston on the loth of June, 1848, at 8 A.M., In the cars for Albany. The weather was warm, and we were well powdered with dust, when, at about 6 P.M., we arrived at the ferrj on the Hudson. The Western appears to be more e.xposed to this nuisance of dust than the other railroads, probably from the many cuts through banks of crumbling clay and gravel. We were interested to hear that a contrivance for watering the track had been proposed and successfully experimented on.

At the hotel we found the New York members of our party, which now numbered eighteen. After tea we assembled in a large room up stairs, where Prof. Agassiz made the following remarks on the region over which we had passed : —

" The soil of this tract is of great variety, but everywhere presents this feature : that its surface is covered with loose materials, all erratic, (or belonging to rocks whose natural position is distant from the points where these fragments are found,) and all evidently transported at a very remote epoch. These erratics are of all sizes, from sand to large rocks ; the larger ones angular ; the smaller ones more or less rounded, scratched and polished, as are also the surfaces of tha rocks on which they rest. These polished rocks have been noticeable to-day, especially to the westward of Worcester. These marks we shall find still more strongly shown as we proceed northward.

"We have nowhere seen tmaltered rocks, but exclusively those of a granitic character, metamorphosed from originally stratified formations by the action of heat. Thus, for instance, the blackish mica slate, with veins of quartz, — which so frequently occurs on our route of to-day — is probably clay slate, altered by intense heat, which has produced several varieties of silicate of alumina. There is no clearly defined division between these slates ; they pass without interruption from baked clay into chloritic slates. In one place in the Connecticut valley we saw red sandstone, generally in a horizontal position, except where disturbed by trap. Nearer x^lbany we passed through a region of highly metamorphic limestone, belonging to the oldest geological deposits. We have also seen indications of the Potsdam sandstone, one of the most ancient fossiliferous rocks.

" As to the vegetation, it is to be remarked in general, that the features of a country are given principally by its plants. These mark the variety of the soil, and its formation. The forests which we have seen to-day consist of a great variety of plants, mingled together. We have seen no forests composed of one species of tree. In the mountainous parts, indeed, certain species predominate, but elsewhere several are found in almost equal proportions. Among these are various pines ; the white and pitch pines, the spruce, hemlock, red cedar, and a few larches. Then the Amentaceae, viz., oaks, birches, chestnut, beech, poplar, and the platanus or button wood, (which is in a sickly condition, probably from injury done to the younw wood by frosts,) hickories, elms, locust, ash, and maples, but the latter fewer in number. The hickories never form forests. About Niagara we shall find the beech abundant. Of shrubs, we have seen a great variety : e. g., sumachs of several species, (whereas in Europe there is but one,) elder, alder, cornus, viburnum, witch-hazel, willows, wild roses, and grapes. A remarkable feature of the vegetation of this country is, the number of species of grape, mostly useless for the manufacture of wine. Shrubs peculiar to America, are the Kalmias; viz., mountain-laurel and sheepsbaue. In the meadows are various grassy plants, carices, and ferns ; the latter in great variety. These spots exhibit probably a condition analogous to that of the Coal Period, in which the ferns, &c., prevailed. All the plants growing on the roadsides are exotics, as are also all the cultivated plants and grasses. Everywhere in the track of the white man we find European plants ; the native weeds have disappeared before him like the Indian.* Even along the railroads we find few indigenous species. For example, on the railroad between Boston and Salem, although the ground is uncultivated, all the plants along the track and in the ditches are foreign. From this circum-

* Old Tocelyn says the Indians call the common plantain {Plantago major,) " the •white man's foot."

NARRATIVE.

stance, erroneous conclusions have been drawn as to the identity of species on the European and American continents.

" The combination of trees in forests is an important point in the physiognomy of a country. The forests of Europe are much more uniform in this respect than those of this country, from the greater variety of allied species here. Thus, in Central Europe, there are but two species of oak, and no wahiut whatever ; the so-called English walnut being a Persian tree. In the United States there are over forty species of oak ; in Massachusetts there are eleven kinds of oak, and six of walnuts and hickories.

' ' Another important point is the distribution of water. "We have crossed to-day three distinct basins, having no connection with each other, viz. , that of the Atlantic coast, the Connecticut valley, and the valley of the Hudson. It would be interesting to examine how far each of these basins has a peculiar fcnma."

June IQth. — ^At half-past seven this morning, after not a little worry, owing to the very defective arrangements at the railroad station, we set off in the cars for Buffalo. Weather hot, but as our course lay up the flat valley of the Mohawk, there were no more cuts, and the dust was not so troublesome as yesterday. "We passed through level, well-cultivated fields, spotted in many places mth. the bright yellow flower of the mustard, just in blossom.

This rich alluvial plain very early attracted settlers. Part of it bears the name of the German Flats, from its first inhabitants, and the names of the towns along the route, such as Manheim, Palatine Bridge, &c., indicate an immigration from the Palatinate. The Dutch and German blood is still predominant here, as is shown by the names on the signs, the neat little red-painted houses, with open loggias and drive-ways, and the huge barns of this race of thiifty cultivators.

After an uncomfortable night in the cars, we found ourselves at daylight surrounded by the forest. Huge unbranching trunks, clear of undergrowth ; occasional clearings, with log houses, and the com or potatoes scattered among charred stumps. From Utica, westward, along this road, one is constantly reminded of the "West. The land here, too, is much of it uncleared, cheap, and fertile ; on the other hand, aguish. In short, the advantages and disadvantages are those of the West. From the abundance of pigs and children, and the untidy look of the cabins, one conjectures the settlers are mostly the former laborers on the railroad, or at least countrymen of theirs.

June 17th. — At 8 A. M. we arrived in Buffalo, after about thirty-six hours' actual travelling from Boston, a distance of 527 miles. We had previously ascertained that it would be advisable to wait until the 19th before embarking for Mackinaw, in order to give time for procuring stores, tents, &c., and had determined to spend the intervening time at Niagara. On our arrival we found that the morning train for Niagara was to start at 9 ; so leaving some of the party to make arrangements, the rest of us took the cars and arrived at the Falls about 11 o'clock.

The road thither presents a continuation of the same noble forest of " first growth," but often broken by clearings. Our European friends were much struck by the contrast with the region we had left only yesterday. A large proportion of the trees were elms, not the plume-like spreading elms of our avenues, but a straight, unbroken, scarcely tapering trunk of sixty feet height, then abruptly expanding with sturdy limbs at right angles into a round head.

In the afternoon we crossed to the Canada side. The museum here contains an interesting collection of the birds and fishes of the neighborhood. A camera-obscura, the field of which is some twenty feet in diameter, placed on the edge of the cliff, gives extensive views of the Falls. I was struck with the disproportionally high tone of the sky in the landscapes it presented. The effect was something like the glow that comes on after sunset.

In the evening we assembled in a hall leading to our lodgings at the Cataract Hotel, (in that part of the building which overlooks the Rapids,) and Prof. Agassiz, having displayed his portable blackboard, (consisting of a piece of painted linen on a roller,) gave us the following sketch of the region passed over since his last lecture : —

" East of Lake Ontario we have granitic formations, which were doubtless islands in the ancient time, on whose shores the later formations accumulated, by deposition from the water, in successive beds, the later covering the more ancient, except where these had in the meanwhile been elevated from the primeval ocean along the shores of the high land already dry. Thus the older deposits form strips around the granitic regions ; tlie beds of sedimentary rock becoming continually narrower with the rise of the continent and the consequent contraction of the ocean. From this time there were three basins, viz., the coal basin of Pennsylvania, that of the West, and that of Michigan. It is evident that the north-east region was the earliest dry ; to the westward all the formations are more recent.

" Wherever the water escaped towards the north-east, we have waterfalls over precipices ; for instance, here at Niagara. Where depressions have been formed in soft rocks between harder ones, we have valleys, as that of the Mohawk.

"It is a remarkable fact, that the leading changes in the geological features of North America take place in a north and south direction. Thus the fissures formino; the beds of the rivers, as those of the Connecticut, the Hudson, the Mississippi, and the rivers of Maine. In the Old World, on the contrary, most formations are parallel to the Equator, as the Alps, the Atlas, and the Himalayas. Only two mountain chains run north and south, the Ural, and the Scandinavian mountains, which are northern in their character. The longitudinal direction of fissures in this country is well shown by the New York State Survey. The lakes of Western New York lie north and south. So also Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. These longitudinal fissures are sometimes traversed by others at right angles, as in the instances of Lake Superior and Lake Erie. These fissures must have been formed by the upheaval of the continent, the layers of already solidified rock being lifted up or depressed. Elvers must have existed already in those early ages, as is shown for instance in the ancient channel of the Niagara, (above the Whirlpool,) which is filled with drift not found in the present channel.

" All the formations before spoken of are more ancient than the coal, yet many of them consist of soft clay. The hardness of rock is thus no proof or criterion of its age. These soft slates are nowhere more developed than in New York, and nowhere have they been more carefully examined and described. These details of facts are to be looked upon in the same light as a mere list of dates or occurrences in history. But geology aims at a full illustration of all these details.

" Passing to the vegetable kingdom : — As soon as we left the metamorphic rocks of Massachusetts, vegetation became much richer, because of the limestone and marl deposits. It is remarkable how limestone favors not only vegetable, but also animal life. In Switzerland, where the country is divided between the limestone and marl region of the Jura, the sandstone of the plain, and the granitic formations of the Alps, the cattle of the latter region are not more than one-third of the size of those of the former.

" Among the plants peculiar to this country, are many in whose analogues in Europe many interesting chemical products have been traced. Very little has been done here in organic chemistry, and it is a matter which might well occupy one's lifetime, to ascertain the chemical relations of analogous plants of the two countries, (for instance, Angelica, walnut, &c.) Tracing the forest vegetation, we have seen lately very few pines, but principally maples, elms, and ashes ; and here at Niagara, almost exclusively elm, beech, hickory, ash, and arbor-vitae, which is very rare in Massachusetts."

June \'^tli. — We met a2:ain this mornino; in the hall, where Prof. Agasslz had prepared diagrams illustrating the geology of Niagara, which he explained as follows : —