TAYLOR: WHITE-CEDAR SWAMP AT MERRICK, LONG ISLAND 87 



warrant for bringing it up again (17). In the case of the seaward 

 end of the marsh we find merely a repetition of what has probably 

 been always salt marsh. Nearer the present cedar swamp we 

 find evidences of buried cedars, now more than two miles from 

 the bay, and covered by typical salt-marsh flora. In the inter- 

 vening region off the line of the probable drainage of the old 

 fresh-water stream, now tidal, we find remains of a vegetation 

 almost exactly like that now found on the lobe of drier land that 

 extends out into the marsh. Here, again, this is now covered 

 exclusively by typical salt-marsh flora. 



The evidence of costal subsidence thus seems entirely conclusive. 

 While no new facts in connection with that controversy have been 

 stated, with the possible exception of the record of the dead zone 

 of cedar trees, it is surely of significance to find such evidence so 

 far back from any barrier beach or other possible regulator of 

 exceptional tides, which has been suggested as a possible alterna- 

 tive to recent subsidence. 



The cedar swamp at Merrick, then, is of interest (a) because 

 it is probably the most northerly grove on the coastal plain of 

 anything like that size; (b) the character of its undergrowth; 

 (c) the evidence of coastal subsidence suggested near the transi- 

 tion between the grove and open salt marsh, by the large number 

 of dead and dying trees. 



Bibliography 



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Jersey and Long Island. Am. Jour. Sci. II. 24: 341-355. 1857. 



2. ■ -. Geology of the county of Cape May (N. J.), 62 and 39. 



1857- 



3. Lewis, E., Jr. , Evidences of coast depression along the shores of 



Long Island. Am. Nat. 2: 334-336. 1868. 



4. . Ups and downs of the Long Island coast. Pop. Sci. 



Monthly 10: 434-446. 1877. 



5. Shaler, N. S. Sea-coast swamps of the eastern United States. 



Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. 6: 359-398. 1884. 



6. Hollick, A. Plant distribution as a factor in the interpretation of 



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& Forest 9: 63. 1896. 



