134 



Hill, a clump of red-bud trees. At another, on the border line between 

 the upland and lowland forest, the ground is thickly covered with ground 

 ivy, Nepeta (jlcichoma. 



Here in the low-ground forest we have, especially in the first forest 

 mentioned (that near the laboratories), a dense undergrowth of hazel-nut, 

 prickly ash, hop tree and many other shrubs, so that the wood was 

 somewhat difficult to pass tlu'ough. The forest floor is also thickly cov- 

 ered with a quite dense growth of vines and tall weeds of numerous 

 species, among which may be mentioned virgin's bower (Clematis virgin- 

 iana), grape, hop, spotted touch-me-not, false nettle, American bell flower, 

 great blue lobelia and cardinal flower, rice cut-grass, and many other 

 such plants. 



The low-ground forest in the viciniiy of the laboi'atories was much 

 modified during the summer of 1900, as a good deal of the underbrush was 

 removed. In all cases it goes entirely down to the fringe of willows 

 which grows at the edge of the lake. 



The second low-ground forest, at the southern or west of southern side 

 of the lake, not far from the region of Clear Creek mouth, consists of 

 nearly the same sort of trees as the other, but the ground is rather more 

 marsh}', black and level, and the vegetation of the forest floor is of a 

 somewhat different sort. There are more soft maples and large willows 

 here, and lizard's tail is a characteristic plant. A small part of the shore 

 is sandy here, and there is, between the lake shore and the low ground, 

 back from the lake, a high, narrow ice ridge, four or five feet wide and 

 breast high, and quite steep on each side. There are tolerable good ice 

 ridges in other places, as south of Chicago Hill pier a little way, shown 

 in Figure 2 (Fig. 2 shows lake plain on the left with willows on the ice 

 ridge on the right), and over by Yaruelle's point, but these are not neaa-ly 

 so well marked. 



The greater part of the country between the lake and the hills is a 

 fiat, level, meadow-like tract, forming the Lake plain. The soil of this 

 plain is generally of a black or brown muck, with plenty of marl in places. 

 Ditches dug through it reveal an abundance of gasteropod shells, many of 

 them yet entire but very fragile, and many of them bi-oken. These attest 

 the former existence of the lake over the lake plain. 



Traditions of old settlers refer to a time when the lake shore came up, 

 in places at least, to the foot of the hills. One such tradition refers to 

 the lake reaching the base of the hill known as Hamilton Mound, and the 



