marble, they would crack and crumble, and if of iron cast hollow, they would warp and break. Several of the old monuments had been taken away for building stones. In view of these objections the engineer in charge recommended granite.

By an act passed May 20, 1880,' entitled "An act to provide for the settlement of the boundary lines between the State of New York and the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, respectively," the original line as surveyed at the time was declared the true one, however irregular it might be, and the Regents were directed to appoint three of their number as commissioners, to meet with such as might be appointed by these States, to agree upon this old line, and where necessary to erect new monuments. Under this act the Regents on the 13th of July, 1880, appointed Vice-Chancellor Pierson, and Regents Leavenworth and Depew, to carry this provision of law into effect.

In order to restore co-operation with the other States, the Commission above-named requested Governor Cornell to address their Governors, setting forth the action of the State of New York, and asking their aid in procuring joint action. In accordance with this suggestion, the State of New Jersey, on the 25th of March, 1881, passed an amendatory act of the act of 1876, expressly defining the duties of their commissioners to be the restoration of the original monuments on the old line. The Governor of Pennsylvania promptly replied that the attention of his State Legislature would be called to the matter, and action urged.2 Delays in transportation and from other causes prevented the delivery of the monuments till near the end of the season, and about fifty only were set. A detailed report of operations was made in January, 1882.3

By concurrent resolutions passed June 28-July 1, 1881, the Chap. 340, Laws of 1880.

* In the execution of this plan, two kinds of granite monuments were adopted ; the larger, termed "road monuments," being four and a half feet long, the top dressed rectangular, six by twelve inches, the letters "N. Y." and "Pa." being cut on the opposite broad faces, which were to be dressed down twelve inches from the top. The smaller monuments to replace the mile-stones were to be dressed six inches square, and both kinds were to have grooves cut on the top, crossing in the center. The holes were dug four feet deep, and at the bottom of each monument an unglazed earthenware disc, six inches in diameter, with a àole in the center, and numbered, was placed, and bedded in surface soil. Only the dressed portion of the stones appeared above the surface, and in some cases they were bedded in hydraulic cement.

3 Senate Doc. 20, 1882, pp. 27. In this report each monument, with its markings, is particularly described.

Commission appointed under chapter 340, 1880, was authorized to continue the work of erecting monuments, and of ascertaining the true boundary, as would best serve the interest and convenience of the State.1

Under the provisions of the act of 1880, above noticed, an agreement was executed on the 25th of March, 1881, between Henry R. Pierson, Elias W. Leavenworth and Chauncey M. Depew, on the part of New York, and Abraham Browning, Thomas M. Carter and George H. Cook on the part of New Jersey, describing and fixing the boundary line between these States. The field books, maps and records relating to the proceedings were filed in duplicate in the offices of Secretary of State in the two States, and an official notice of the proceedings was reported to Congress.

These proceedings were confirmed by law, May 23, 1884,2 and a final report of so much as relates to the New Jersey line was made March 24, 1884.3 In this report the proceedings of the Commission, instructions to surveyors, field operations, and final agreement are given in detail, together with a statement of expenditures and historical information of much importance. The appendix contains a Historical Sketch of the boundary between the States of New York and New Jersey, by Mr. Berthold Fernow of the State Library.

CHAPTER XXXI.

SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS.

I. Meteorological Observations at Academies.

At a meeting of the Board of Regents held March 1, 1825, ViceChancellor Simeon De Witt offered a resolution :

"That each of the Academies incorporated by this Board be furnished with a thermometer and pluviometer, or rain-gange, the expense of which shall be paid out of the funds of the Regents, and that the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Lansing and Mr. Greig be a committee to provide these instruments, and to prescribe the rules for making observations by them, and the manner in which the accounts of them shall be kept, reports of which shall be annually made to this Board."

Laws of 1881, p. 965.

Chap. 351, Laws of 1884.
Senate Doc. 46, 1884, pp. 137, with maps.

On the 12th of April of the same year the following resolution was adopted:

"Resolved, That in addition to the existing requisites to entitle the Academies to their dividends of the public fund, it will be considered necessary that they keep an exact register of observations made with the thermometers and rain-gauges with which they shall be furnished, according to the instructions that may be given them by the committee appointed for that purpose, and that with their annual reports they shall give correct registers of such observations, and that the Secretary furnish each of the Academies with a copy of this resolution."

Reports commencing with January, 1826, were continued under this system, until the end of 1849, and in a few cases to 1850. They included readings of the thermometer every morning when the degree was lowest, every afternoon when it was highest, and every evening an hour after sunset. The lowest degree was supposed to occur generally between the beginning of daylight and sunrise, and the highest between two and four o'clock in the afternoon. The thermometers were generally those made by Kendall of New Lebanon, and of the Fahrenheit scale. The rain-gauge was measured not long after the rain was over, and two forms of this instrument were furnished, a conical one, invented by Simeon De Witt, and one with a cylindrical tube below a funnel-shaped receiver, and containing a float, which raised a graduated rod. A tin vessel having the same area as the rain-gauge was used for receiving the snow fall, and the contents were melted and measured.

Besides these two classes of instruments, observers were directed to record the direction of the wind, the aspect of the sky as to whether clear or cloudy, and every meteorological phenomenon that came under notice, such as unusual appearances of the sky, halos, parhelia, auroras, meteors, storms and the like, as also the first ap pearance of flowers and leaves, the beginning of haying and harvesting, first autumnal frosts and snows, appearance and departure of birds of passage, first notice of fire-flies, reptiles, etc.; in short, whatever might be thought to indicate the progress of the seasons, or to afford a fact worthy of scientific record.

Although in some cases these records were no doubt made in a formal way, and without particular interest in the observer, there were many instances in which they awakened attention in zealous students of the physical sciences, and secured a record of great value

for future reference and comparison. It is but due to the memory of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck, long Principal of the Albany Academy and Secretary of the Board of Regents, that we should record the exact and painstaking labors that he performed in supervising this system of observations, and in preparing the returns for publication in the annual reports of the Regents. In the earlier years, he was assisted by Joseph Henry, then a teacher in the Albany Academy, and afterward a Professor in Princeton College, and first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.1

The number of years reported by the several academies is shown by the following table, not including certain special observations taken with especial care, with the barometer and other instruments by Prof. Chester Dewey, at Rochester, Prof. James H. Coffin, at Ogdensburg, and some others, for short periods.

Academies that reported Meteorological Observations under the System established in 1825.

'In March, 1842, Dr. Charles A. Lee, of New York, addressed a letter to te Regents strongly urging the addition of Hygrometrical observations, but it was not done until the introduction of the revised and improved system in 1849.

Toward the latter part of the period embraced in these years some general summaries were included, showing for particular items the results of a series of years.

In 1850, the editor of this volume, having collected the series of annual reports of the Regents containing from year to year the summary of returns, began for his own information, some generalizations from these tables; but the work soon expanded into an idea of preparing a complete digest of the whole. The thought was suggested to Dr. T. R. Beck, then Secretary of the Regents, which led to the following proceedings: