THE NAUTILUS. 



Vor,. XXV. MARCH, 1912. No. 11 



THE MOLLUSCA OF MONTE SANO, ALABAMA. 



BY H. E. AVHEELER. 



Monte Sano is one of the most picturesque spurs of the Cumber- 

 land Plateau. It is situate in Madison County, Alabama, just east 

 of the Huntsville meridian, and rises nearly 1000 feet 1 above the 

 valley in which the city of Huntsville lies. 



Going east from the heart of Huntsville the pike first crosses & 

 ridge known as Little Mountain, the home of many a choice shell, 

 and then winds its way up the noble brow of Monte Sano, and 

 around to its eastern slope, giving an all-around view of the splendid 

 valleys below from the south and west to the north and east. 

 From the city the distance is nearly five miles. On account of its salu- 

 brious climate it is far famed as a summer resort. 



In all this limestone region many " Big Springs" are to found. 

 They issue from large caves, or rise from the foot of a bluff, continu- 

 ing oftentimes on the surfaces the course of subterranean creeks, per- 

 haps connecting some of the smaller rivers at their sinks with the 

 Tennessee River which is but ten miles distant from Huntsville on 

 the south. These springs furnish the coldest water in the state. 

 The valleys of the table lands are the work wholly of erosion,* and 



'The elevation of Monte Sano is given on the topographic sheets of the U. S 

 Geological Survey as 1600 feet. 



'See McCalley, Valley Regions of Alabama, I. p. 14 seq . 



