232 Ou1o STaTE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
Biack SOIL. 
As we pass from the new to the old ridges, we notice a dif- 
ference in the quantity of leaf mould that has accumulated. 
Ridges 8 and 7 have no covering of black soil. Ridge 6 has a 
little in places. On Ridge 5 it is about an inch deep, on Ridge 4, 
two inches, and on Ridges 3, 2, and 1, two to four inches or more. 
On Ridge 1 it is quite uneven, due, no doubt, to this ridge being 
so much exposed to the wind. The roots of many of its cedar 
stumps are well covered with sand. 
HEIGHTS OF VALLEYS AND OF AQUEOUS DEPOSITS IN RIDGES. 
Soon after I began studying the ridges I noticed in going 
from the bay toward the lake a progression in the height of the 
valleys between them. In periods of high water the valley 
between ridges 1 and 2 could be traversed for quite a distance 
with a row boat and in very high water such as that of 1858 with 
larger boats. At such times it connected with the bay at its 
northwest end. This has been open once at least in the last 25 
years. In October, 1904, it was opened by the dredge which 
made the lagoon in this valley and cutting through Ridge 2 made 
a lagoon between Ridges 2 and 3. Here also was water though 
not quite so deep as in the first valley. Between Ridges 3 and 4, 
and between 4 and 5, grow the swamp rose, cornel, and blue- 
joint grass showing that the soil is damp. Until 1904 I had 
never seen water standing in these valleys. All through the 
nineties the lake was too low but in 1904 a little water was visible 
at the surface between Ridges 3 and 5 beyond the northwest end 
of Ridge 4 and extending quite a distance. Between Ridge 5 
and the lake the valleys are so high above water level that the 
sand is too dry for most plants and the scanty vegetation reminds 
one of the barren zone of the bar. 
When I found that the ridges had been built up successively 
by the lake and that considerable time had elapsed between the 
formation of the earlier and later ones, it seemed likely that each 
valley might be higher than its predecessors because the lake 
itself had become higher than when the earlier valleys were 
formed. This hypothesis was strengthened when it was found 
that the valley behind Ridge 6, which was formed by the very 
high water that prevailed for some years prior to 1863, was 
higher than the valley behind Ridge 7, which was formed about 
187 8, and this higher than the valley behind Ridge 8, which was 
: formed at a time of relatively low water. 
Having noticed a progression in the heights of the valleys, 
it seemed possible that the aqueous deposits in the ridges them- 
