8 Calvin Goodrich 



Pleuroceridae, either up or down. Following this stretch come Leoto or 

 Whistlenaut shoals, the first of the rock shoals which characterize the 

 middle Coosa. These are really reefs of rocks extending qviite across the 

 river or leaving only a narrow channel. The river makes a strong current 

 wherever it can find a passage. Two miles farther down and probably con- 

 nected by rocks on the river bottom are the extensive Ten Island shoals. 

 The Pleuroceridae show the greatest changes as we descend, that is, the 

 changes are more apparent. The assemblage (upper Coosa forms) is con- 

 tinued as far as ]\Iinnesota Bend. Here on the limestone rocks there is a 

 sudden and marked change. There is another marked change at the reef 

 just above Leoto Shoals; and after that one or two new forms come in at 

 every shoal." 



In a letter of June 6, 1907, Mr. Smith gives a brief picture of collect- 

 ing on the Weduska shoals : 



"We could wade out half a mile in the rapids, which in that place are 

 simply a succession of ledges with flat rocks or gravel between, the water 

 swift in places, but never strong enough to be dangerous. I used to carry 

 a large bag, and generally this and my pockets were filled in half an hour, 

 though hardly one specimen in ten was saved." 



Back in Wetumpka in February, 1908, Mr. Smith wrote: 



"All this stretch (Cedar Island to Higgin's Ferry, Chilton County) 

 is full of shoals except between Higgin's Ferry and Duncan's Riffle, where 

 the water is still and deep. The distribution is exceedingly interesting. 

 In very swift water we had to cling to rocks with one hand while fishing 

 with the other for stones; once I got a dowsing." 



Returned to University from Anita, he wrote of the Cahaba River: 



"The Cahaba physically is very different from the Coosa. It is essential- 

 ly a river of the Paleozoic limestone region, flowing through a gorge, and 

 generally deep. The shoals, where they do occur, have deep water above 

 and below. Stretches of deep water separate species of the j^^oosa, and 

 apparently this is so of the Cahaba too." 



Mr. Smith returned to the Middle Coosa in the summer of 1914. He 

 says of Fort William shoals: 



"Several reefs of rock cross the river diagonally, and on them we made 

 our best hauls. It was exciting sometimes even for an old campaigner. 

 There was one little pool under a fall which must have yielded over one 

 hundred Gyrotomas. You would have laughed to see me sitting in the fall, 

 holding on with one hand while I groped with the other, bringing up three 

 or four every time ; often they were washed out of my fingers, for the cur- 

 rent was a caution. We worked until the last possible moment. When we 

 left Fort Wilh'am Shoals were entirely covered by the backwater of the 

 power dam." 



