248 Proceedings of the Ohio State .Icodemy of Science 



Lake Shore tracks ; thence for one and one-fourtli miles the 

 gravel ridge swings a httle north of the avenue and continues to 

 the edge of the Euchd sheet, h^rom Nottingham eastward, this 

 ridge is not over three feet high, even where it is best developed, 

 but west of Xottingham, the ridge in places is 5 feet to 10 feet 

 high, and c(jntains some rather coarse gravel. 



This St. Clair avenue beach ridge is about 30 feet lower than 

 the proper Warren level ; its sha])e and continuity suggest a lake 

 stage. West of the river nearly to Edgewater Park there is 

 much sand and fine gravel at the same altitude. If. however, 

 Lake Warren fleclined slowly, or by short stages, it i-> p'-obable 

 that the St. Clair ridge is only a barrier beach. 



LIFE RELATIOX.S OF THESE SHORE LINES. 



The flat region bordering Lake Erie has been likened to a 

 coastal j)lain. There are several reasons for seeing a similarity. 

 In the first place, the escarpment due largely to inequality of 

 rock texture serves as a border for the low smooth strip that belts 

 the lake. This flat bordering strip, as we have seen, is a ter- 

 raced lake plain. Furthermore, the successive lake-stages have 

 given the streams corresponding local base-levels, hence they 

 have had a drainage history very unlike that of coastal plain 

 streams. Organisms, flora and fauna, have been influenced by 

 this particular physiography with its stretches of gravel ridges, 

 rock clifl's, wide strips of sand and marshes, and extensive clay 

 areas. And man, both Indian and white, dwelling here, has also 

 experienced physiographic reactions. It is our purpose to look 

 briefly into some of man's responses. 



These old shore lines in their development witnessed the 

 usual shifting facies of plant habitats, developing societies, and in 

 time families and communities, working out the usual history 

 that always takes place slowly under a changing environment. 

 The ecology of modern shore lines under like climatic condi- 

 tions must be very similar. Each stage of these high level lakes 

 involved a great lapse of time. Some indications of this time 

 are seen in the numerous swamp areas, many of which had not 



