2G6 Gleason : Unsolved problems of the trairies 



understanding of American ecology and phytogeography in gen- 

 eral. The thoroughness with which original conditions have been 

 destroyed over central and northern Illinois is surprising to the 

 botanists of the more densely populated, but sparsely settled East. 

 In most of the counties of this part of the state there is absolutely 

 no virgin prairie or forest, and in other cases the prairies are limited 

 to narrow strips along railroads or small streams. In one case 

 they are modified either by civilization or by burning and in the 

 other they are not typical of the original upland prairies. Cook 

 County, in which is located Chicago with its two million inhabi- 

 tants, is mainly outside of the prairie province, but contains ten 

 times as much unused land as do Champaign, MacLean, or Liv- 

 ingston counties, located in the "corn belt." On the other hand, 

 Cook County offers poor facilities for field work in comparison 

 with the vicinity of New York City. 



The opportunity for study is, however, not entirely lost, but 

 the investigation is made more difficult, and every succeeding season 

 lessens the possibility of work along this line. In this paper there 

 are merely indicated some of the particular questions that still 

 await satisfactory solution, in the hope of awakening interest, and, 

 if possible, stimulating research along this line. The questions 

 are by no means entirely unanswered ; every ecologist has a gen- 

 eral idea in regard to them, but the detailed information is for the 

 most part lacking. Our information may be drawn from a number 

 of sources, some of which may be enumerated : 



1. Books of travel and description, of which many are extant, 

 though they are unfortunately more picturesque than scientific in 

 their method of treatment. These begin with the published works 

 of the early French explorers, Marquette and Hennepin, and extend 

 to the middle of the last century. They are particularly numerous 

 between 1810 and 1 8 50, when the prairie country was being most 

 rapidly settled. 



2. A fairly good knowledge of the prairie flora, which we owe 

 to Bebb, Mead, Vasey, Hall, and Brendel, of a past generation, 

 and which may still be supplemented by direct observation along 

 roadsides and railroads. 



3. Several areas of considerable extent on which prairies are 

 still preserved, but under abnormal conditions, such as the swampy 



