NEW YORK, one of the United States of America, is situated between Lat. 40. 30. and 45. N., and (including Long Island, &c.) between Long. 71. 51. 58., and 79. 55. It is bounded N. by Lake Ontario, St Lawrence River, and Canada East; E. by Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; S. by the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and W. by Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, and Niagara River. Its form is irregular, but may be compared to that of an irregular triangle, with its apex touching the Atlantic. The extreme length east and west of its continental part is about 335 miles, and the extreme breadth north and south about 308 miles. Including Long Island, Staten Island, &c., the total area of the state is computed at 47,000 square miles, or about one sixty-third of the entire area of the United States.
Long Island, the largest insular portion of the state, projects into the Atlantic (opposite, and in the main parallel, to the shore of the mainland, the most of which is embraced by Connecticut) a distance of about 125 miles; its greatest breadth is about 20 miles, its average breadth 12 miles, and its area about 1440 square miles. Staten Island, at the mouth of New York harbour (and included in Richmond county), is about 14 miles long, from 4 to 8 miles wide, with an area of about 60 square miles. Manhattan Island (embraced in New York city and county) has an extreme length of 13½ miles, an average breadth of 2 miles, and an area of 21½ square miles. In New York harbour are three islands—Governor's, Elles', and Bedlow's, ceded to the United States government, and fortified. In the East River, or Strait of Long Island Sound, are three islands occupied by New York city institutions. In Niagara River, about 4 miles above Niagara Falls, is Grand Island, having an area of 27½ square miles, besides several small islands.
The surface of the state is considerably elevated, the larger part of it being a section of the great Alleghany table-land. There is, however, a great diversity in the aspect of the several physical divisions. The eastern half of the state is traversed by ranges of mountains; the interior has an uneven surface, and contains several large and deep lakes; and the western part, though frequently uneven, is distinguished for its broad and rich plains. There are four great natural divisions.—1. The Atlantic district, the smallest of these, comprises Long Island, which is a low sandy region, with extensive plains rising along its northern borders into hills of moderate elevation, at but one point only exceeding 300 feet in height. Its temperature differs much from that of the mainland. Its insular position, and its early settlement, have occasioned the extirpation of the larger quadrupeds; and it is more remarkable for the abundance and variety of its birds, than for the number of its mammalia. It forms the southern limit of the migrations of the arctic species of birds, and the northern limit to those of the torrid zone. It seems also to be the boundary between the fishes and other classes of the northern and tropical seas. 2. The Hudson valley district comprises the region watered by the Hudson River and its tributaries, the chief of which is the Mohawk River. The outline bears some resemblance to the letter L inverted (thus, 'l'), the perpendicular and main part of the letter representing the Hudson River, and the horizontal and minor part of it representing the Mohawk River. The latter, after an eastward course of 140 miles, enters the Hudson
at a distance of 160 miles from the Atlantic. This district is traversed by ranges of the Alleghany Mountains, and its western border embraces the Catskill range of mountains, some of which are nearly 4000 feet high. In regard to size, this is the third of the four districts. 3. The Northern district lies N. of the Mohawk valley, is bounded W. by Lake Ontario and the River St Lawrence, and has the shape of an irregular truncated triangle. Its south-eastern half embraces the region of the Adirondack Mountains, estimated to contain an area of about 6000 square miles, and containing numerous conical peaks and short ranges, reaching in some places an elevation of more than 5000 feet. Towards Lakes Champlain and George they subside suddenly to the level of those sheets of water. To the N. and N.W. there is a very gradual slope towards the River St Lawrence. 4. The Western district includes the region between Lakes Ontario and Erie on the N., and the Pennsylvania boundary-line on the S. A large proportion of it is elevated and furrowed by valleys, extending N. and S., which give rise to rivers pursuing opposite directions. Its central position is a level table-land, rising in its southern parts to elevations of from 1000 to 1200 feet above the sea, and abruptly subsiding on its western border to the level of Lake Erie. This same portion contains a series of lakes, stretching generally from N. to S., varying from 15 to 38 miles in length, and discharging their waters by one common outlet, the Oswego River, into Lake Ontario. Lakes Erie and Ontario exercise a great influence on the climate and other features of this district, the whole of which is exceedingly fertile, and in its uncultivated portions is covered by a vigorous growth of forest trees.
The Alleghany Mountains enter the S.E. part of the state by two distinct ridges from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The former crosses the Hudson River at West Point, forming the highlands of the Hudson, celebrated for their scenery, which combines grandeur with the most picturesque beauty. At this crossing the highlands are from 15 to 20 miles in breadth, and have a height of about 1400 feet, and in one instance, on the E. bank of the river, near Fishkill, they attain an elevation of nearly 1700 feet. East of the Hudson this range has a N.E. direction, until it approaches near the Connecticut boundary-line, and then extends N., being called the Taconic range, until it merges in the chain of the Green Mountains. The second branch of the Alleghanies, leading from Pennsylvania, is the range of the Shawanzunk Mountains, which also extends in a N.E. direction, approaching the Hudson, but not crossing it. The Catskill range approaches the Hudson by a similar course, and extends parallel to it for 20 miles, but then bends off to the N.W., towards the Mohawk River. The mountains in the northern part of the state, which are together generally called the Adirondack Mountains, comprise several ranges which have distinct local names; but they constitute a cluster which may be considered as a branch of the great Appalachian system. In other sections there are ranges of hills and highlands.
The most important river for purposes of general navigation exclusively within the state, is the Hudson, which is also one of the most magnificent water-courses in the New World. It rises, by two branches, among the Adirondack Mountains, and having received the Sacandaga, pursues its course (of about 160 miles from its sources) to Waterford, 10 miles above Albany, where it receives the Mohawk River, and thence flows almost directly southward about 156 miles, to its entrance through New York Bay into the Atlantic Ocean. To Troy, 151 miles from the city of New York, the tidal wave passes in from seven to nine hours from New York; and to that city the river is navigable for large steamboats of light draught. Ocean vessels do not ascend above Hudson, 118 miles from New York. The River St
New York State. Lawrence, the outlet of the great lakes, forms a large part of the northern boundary of the state, and conveys to the
ocean a larger volume of water than any other river in the world, except the Amazon. It is navigable for sloops to Ogdenburg, 60 miles from Lake Ontario, but below that place its navigation is much interrupted by rapids. Several rivers of great volume, lying within the state, have each a course of above 150 miles; and, in addition to their natural service in draining and watering their respective valleys, afford, from their descent, most valuable water-power, which latter circumstance prevents continuous navigation by vessels of considerable size.
The falls and cascades of the rivers of this state are numerous, forming notable features in its scenery. The great Falls of Niagara are elsewhere described. The Genesee River has a series of falls; near its sources it descends, within the space of two miles, by three falls of 60, 90, and 110 feet, through a wild and picturesque gorge, formed in the solid rock to the depth of 400 feet; and at Rochester it again descends by three falls of 96, 20, and 105 feet (making, with two rapids, a total descent of 268 feet within the city's limits), the first of which, by its affording immense water-power, has been a principal cause of the prosperity of that flourishing city. Fall Creek, near Ithaca, descends 438 feet, in the space of one mile, by several cascades, one of which has a perpendicular pitch of 116 feet. The Mohawk River in its falls at Cohoes is precipitated over a broken rock 62 feet high, the bank of the river forming precipitous walls 140 feet above the stream; and at Little Falls, some miles above, it passes through a fissure in the rocks, which rise on each side 500 feet above its surface. Trenton Falls is a series of cascades and rapids in West Canada Creek, a tributary of the Mohawk, and 15 miles N. of Utica, extending over 2 miles in a narrow channel cut through solid limestone rock, the sides of which in places rise perpendicularly to the height of 140 feet. At Glenn's Falls, 18 miles from Saratoga, the Hudson flows over a precipitous ledge of rocks, with a descent of 70 feet. In various other rivers, especially in the northern part of the state, there are many waterfalls of much beauty, which are also of importance from their furnishing motive power.
The great exterior lakes, Ontario and Erie, are navigable for the largest steamers and sailing-vessels, and each has several good harbours. Lake Champlain, between this state and Vermont, is 134 miles in length, and of comparatively narrow though unequal width, but is navigable throughout its length for steamboats of the first class. The lakes in the interior of the state not only constitute an interesting feature in its physical geography, but they are of considerable importance to commercial navigation. The largest of these which are navigable by steamers are Lake George, 36 miles long; Cayuga, 38; and Seneca, 35; after which are Oneida Lake, 20 miles long; Skaneateles, 16; Crooked, 18; Canandaigua, 15; Chautauque, 18; and several others. The northern district of the state abounds with small lakes, there being perhaps 200, some of which are greatly elevated above the sea.
The harbours of Buffalo and Dunkirk, on Lake Erie, are capacious, and are also important commercial stations, forming the termini of the two great lines of railroad which extend through the whole length of the state to the Hudson River. On Lake Ontario there are several good harbours,—viz., Sackett's Harbour, Oswego, Genesee (port of Rochester), Niagara, &c.; the first of which is the best, and was an important naval station during the war of 1812–14. Lake Champlain has some harbours, which are sufficiently commodious for the shipping on that lake.
The sea-coast of the state is nearly all comprised in the shores of Long Island, which contain a few harbours and inlets, but none that are much frequented by shipping.
The bay and harbour of New York are subsequently New York State.
The legislature of New York, by its act of 15th April 1836, authorized a complete geological survey of the state, which should furnish a perfect and scientific account of rocks and soils, and their localities, with a list of all its mineralogical, botanical, and zoological productions, and which should also procure and preserve specimens of the same. In the execution of that act, and of the acts of May 18, 1840, and of April 9, 1842, the survey was made. The final report on the results of the survey consists of sixteen large quarto volumes, abundantly and splendidly illustrated. There are eight several collections of specimens of the animals, plants, soils, minerals, rocks, and fossils, found within the state, one of which constitutes a museum of natural history at the capital of the state, and the others are distributed among its collegiate institutions. A geological map is also published, and several more volumes are expected upon the paleontology. The total cost of the survey and of printing, &c., has been estimated at about £145,000.
With the exception of the alluvial and diluvial deposits, and the Geology beds of Tertiary on the St. Lawrence, occupying a very limited area, all the formations of the state of New York are older than the coal formation. The lowest rock of the coal formation occupies some small patches in the south-western part of the state; but none of the coal-bearing strata approach nearer than within six miles of the state line. The prevalence of limestone in nearly all the formations is worthy of notice, affording as it does the basis rock best adapted to yield the materials for fertilizing the soil.
There are two tracts of rocks of the Primary system (comprising Primary the unstratified crystalline and the stratified non-fossiliferous) system, which together occupy about one-third of the area of the state, and are separated from each other by the intervention of a narrow belt of sedimentary rocks. The first is in the north-eastern part of the state, and is of irregular circular form, occupying the counties of Essex, Warren, and Hamilton, with parts of the adjoining counties embraced in the region of the Adirondack Mountains. Nearly the whole of the county of Essex, with its lofty mountains, is composed of hypersthene rock, a compound of Labrador felspar and hypersthene, allied to syenitic granite. In this region it is associated with very large deposits of magnetite iron ore. Throughout this northern section primitive limestone, important for the manufacture of lime for agricultural purposes, is quite abundant. The second tract of the Primary formation consists of a comparatively small section, somewhat triangular, in the southern and south-eastern portion of the state, comprising the counties of Putnam and Westchester, with the larger part of New York, and parts of Rockland, Orange, and Dutchess. The predominant rock in both these Primary sections is gneiss, which furnishes a fine building material, and, under the popular name of granite, is extensively quarried, varying, however, in appearance and composition in different sections. Granite exists, but it is quite unimportant both in extent and value.
The term Taconic system has been given to that series (comprising Taconic seven groups, according to the New York geologists) denominated Taconic metamorphic, lying between the most decided crystalline slates and the lowest fossiliferous rocks. (This system, according to Professor Emmons, is fossiliferous, distinct from and lower than the New York system, and corresponds to the Cambrian rocks of Great Britain; but according to others, it is the New York system metamorphosed by heat.) The term is derived from the Taconic or Taghkanic range of the Appalachian chain, on the eastern boundary of the state, in which is the principal deposit; but there are extensive deposits of similar character all along the west side of the Green and Hoosac Mountains of New England, and so through the Appalachian ranges to Alabama, besides thinner ones in many other places throughout the United States, making in all a series of rocks many thousand feet thick and many hundred miles long. Its seven groups or formations are,—granular quartz (which furnishes white siliceous sand for glass and sand-paper, and for sawing marble), Stockbridge limestone, magnesian slate, sparry limestone, roofing slate, Taconic slate, and black slate. The limestone is fine, furnishing good building material.
The New York geologists denominate as the New York system New York that whole series of rocks which are identical with the lower and upper Silurian of Europe, including two or three members of the Devonian group; and this system they divide into four principal groups, and subdivide into twenty-eight minor groups. Other American geologists have given other names to these series. Our limits allow only a synopsis of their extent in the state of New York, and brief allusion to their characteristics. The four principal groups are named Champlain division, Ontario division, Helderberg series, and Erie division.
The Champlain division, the lowest of the four, corresponding to
New York the Lower Silurian (or Cambrian or graywacke) system of Europe, embraces eight formations. It occupies a very considerable but irregular territory. It extends along the St Lawrence, commencing from its mouth, to its source in Lake Ontario. A branch runs southerly along the east side of the granitic mountains of Essex, &c., along the borders of Lake Champlain, and thence south-westerly to Alabama. These rocks, indeed, flank the mountains of Essex county, &c., so as to form a huge granitic island, giving us an idea of the state of things when the Silurian rocks were in course of deposition. Its lowest formation, viz., the Potsdam sandstone, is supposed to be the lowest fossiliferous rock in the world. The most common shell in it is a lingula, a genus which has survived all the revolutions of the earth, and is still found in the ocean. This formation, 300 feet thick, furnishes a beautiful and durable building material. The other formations (in ascending order), and their estimated thickness, are—calcareous sand-rock, 300 feet, in which fossils are both rare and obscure; Chazy and Black River limestones, 100 feet, some of which produce fine dark-coloured marbles, as well as good quick-lime; Trenton limestone, 400 feet, rich in organic remains; Utica slate, 100 feet, employed in roofing; and the Hudson River group, embracing the gray sandstone, 700 feet, which furnishes stone suitable for grindstones.
The Upper Silurian of Europe embraces the two highest members of the Champlain division, all the Ontario division, and more than half of the Helderberg series of the New York geologists; and its thickness is about 2400 feet. In New York the Upper Silurian rocks extend in a belt of nearly equal width along the south side of Lake Ontario (and in Canada on the north side of Lake Erie), whence it spreads out southerly and westerly over more than half of the Western States. The lowest of this system is the Oneida grit, which is 500 feet thick, coarse and fine grained, and almost destitute of organic remains. Next to this are the formations comprised in the Ontario division of the New York system, viz., Medina sandstone, Clinton and Niagara groups, and the Onondaga Salt group. The Medina sandstone, 350 feet thick, is a red or variegated siliceous mass, sometimes marly and friable, interstratified with gray bands of quartzose sandstone. The Clinton group, 80 feet, is composed of red and variegated shales and sandstones, so diversified as to have received the name of Protean, and it abounds in fossils. The Niagara group, 204 feet, consists of shale below and limestone above. The former, exposed to atmospheric and aqueous action, crumbles away and leaves the limestone in overhanging masses, which at length break by their own weight. These are the rocks over which the water at Niagara Falls is precipitated, and this is the cause of their retrogression. This formation is highly fossiliferous. The Onondaga Salt group, from 600 to 1000 feet thick, is an immense mass of argillo-calcareous shaly rocks, abounding in veins and beds of gypsum, and the source of all the salt springs in New York and the Western States. Notwithstanding its great thickness, it is very barren in fossils. This Ontario division occupies a strip about 20 miles in width, and nearly equal in length to Lake Ontario, which bounds it on the north. The remaining varieties of the Upper Silurian (placed by Professor Hall under the name of the Lower Helderberg limestones) are—the Water Lime group, 100 feet thick; Pentamerous limestone, 80; Delthyris limestone, 200; and Upper Pentamerous limestone. The last named (with the following)—Oriskany sandstone, 700 feet thick—in Pennsylvania; Cauda Galli grit; Schobarie grit, or sandstone; Onondaga limestone; and coniferous limestone, 70) constitute the Helderberg series (of the New York system), which is most fully developed in Albany and Schobarie counties. The Helderberg limestone is cavernous; and some of its caves are celebrated for their extent, containing stalactites and stalagmites of great variety and beauty.
The formations last enumerated with the Erie division of the New York system (which consists of the following)—Marcellus slate, 50 feet thick; Hamilton group, 1000; Tully limestone, 20; Genesee slate, 250; Portage or Nunda group, 1000; Chemung group, 1500; and the Old Red sandstone, perhaps 3000—making a total thickness of about 7000 feet—constitute the Devonian system; or Old Red sandstone of Europe. The Erie division is divisible into two parts, the lower, called the Ludlowville shales, consisting of shales upon thin beds of limestone, most of them quite decomposable, occupying a belt, nearly 20 miles in width, through the central portion of the state; and the upper, called the Chemung group, consisting of thin, even beds of gray sandstone, with intervening shales, occupying the whole of the southern tier of counties. Thus it appears that in New York the Devonian system occupies the southern half of that portion of the state which extends between the Pennsylvania boundary-line on the south, and Lake Ontario and the Mohawk River on the north. The Old Red sandstone proper is confined chiefly to the Catskill Mountains, which are mainly composed of it. It consists of various strata of sandstone, shale, and shaly sandstone, the sandstones being of a red or reddish colour.
Tertiary formation. The clays and sands of the tertiary formation skirt the shores of
the St Lawrence, Lake Champlain, and the Hudson, consisting of a New York stiff blue clay beneath, a yellowish-brown clay in the centre, and sand above. State.
Iron ores are abundantly distributed through the north-eastern and south-eastern sections of the state, especially in the former. In Clinton and Essex counties, the deposits of magnetic iron ore, the black oxide, form beds of from 1 to 20 feet in thickness, almost without mixture, encased in granite; they are also found in the mountains of that region, and appear to extend without interruption into New York from Canada. The Stafford vein in Essex county was estimated in the geological survey to contain ore sufficient to yield three million tons of malleable iron. The specular oxide is found chiefly in the counties of St Lawrence, Jefferson, and Franklin, which border the St Lawrence River. In the south-eastern section there are extensive beds of both magnetic and hematite ores, but the latter is the more abundant. The carburet of iron occurs abundantly in the same section, and less abundantly in the north-east section. Lead ores occur in considerable deposits in various sections, of which by far the most extensive and celebrated are those in the town of Rossie, in St Lawrence county. In 1837 and 1838 these yielded nearly 3000 tons of metallic lead; but they have not been regularly worked to that extent. There are small veins of zinc, copper, &c., in several counties. The Onondaga salt springs, at and around Syracuse, are the most important in the Union; they have been worked since 1797, and the amount of their product has increased with nearly every successive year. The number of bushels of salt made in 1854 was 5,803,347; in 1855, 6,082,885; and in 1856, 5,966,810. Mineral springs, celebrated for their medicinal value, and as places of great resort in the summer, exist in various districts. The central, and some of the western counties, contain abundance of gypsum, which is largely used as a fertilizer, and extensively exported. The abundance of excellent building material has already been noticed. The petroleum springs, in the counties of Cattaraugus and Allegany; the nitrogen springs of New Lebanon and Hoo Sac; and the carburetted hydrogen springs, in the neighbourhood of Lake Erie and Niagara River, are also worthy of notice. There are several springs of the last-named class in the county of Chautauque, one of which affords gas that is used to light the houses in the village of Fredonia, while another supplies the lighthouse in the village of Barcelona.
The soils of this state are so very various, that a full and correct description of them, within our limits, is impossible. In general terms, the most of the soils, or the greater portion of the surface of the state, may properly be called very fertile. The sections least fertile are in the north-east part, traversed by the mountains, where much of the surface is poor and cold; and yet there are many productive valleys in that region. The valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk comprise tracts of excellent soil, but they are greatly surpassed in extent and fertility by the western parts of the state, especially by the section known as the Genesee Flats.
The different sections of the state have considerable climate diversities of climate, each being marked by its own peculiarities. Taken altogether, the climate of the state is everywhere one of great extremes, and subject to sudden and severe changes at all times of the year. Notwithstanding this, however, it appears that the state as a whole is very healthy. The mean average temperature of the whole state is 46° 49 Fahr.; mean maximum 92°, mean minimum 12° below zero, and the mean annual range 104°. The southern section of the valley of the Hudson, and the whole of Long Island, are the most equable portions of the state. The Mohawk valley has a climate which does not vary greatly from the mean average. The region N. and E. of the Mohawk is characterized by a low average tem-