40 Botany.—Ravenna. 
shrubs found in the northern and eastern states; such as the Sarra- 
cenia or side-saddle plant, Andromeda meniantha or buck-bean, Dro- 
sera or dew plant, Coptis trifolia or golden thread; with the white 
birch or Betula populifolia, and Betula lutea, in the more elevated 
swamps; and with many others peculiar to these localities, and not 
found in the southern portion of Ohio. The blueberry, or Vacci- 
nium frondosum, is also a native here; with an abundance of cran- 
berries, Oxycoccus macrocarpus. This whole region is rich in bo- 
tanical specimens, and appears to be one in which the plants of va- 
rious and remote portions of the United States are assembled; the 
great variety of local circumstances and soil, affording congenial babi- 
tats to a larger number of species, than any other portion of the val- 
ley. It is a fertile field for the labors of the botanist. 
Ravenna.—After visiting two or three ponds that lie near our 
route, in search of Lymneze and Planorbi, at 1 P. M. we reached 
Ravenna, the county town for Portage. This beautiful town lies on 
a broad and moderately elevated tract, commanding an extensive 
view of the surrounding country. The court house is a large brick 
building, painted of a straw color, and constructed with much neat- 
ness and good taste. Its interior arrangement. is very convenient, 
more so than that of any one I have seen in Ohio. The streets are 
wile, and the private dwellings are generally substantial and neat in 
their external appearance. The present number of inhabitants is about 
eight hundred. The location is directly on the dividing line between 
the waters which run into the Ohio, and those which run into Lake 
Erie. The old court house was so situated, that the rain which fell 
on the north side of the roof passed into the Cuyahoga, and was dis- 
charged into the Gulf of St. Lawrence; while that which fell on the 
south side passed into the Mahoning, and was finally poured into the 
Gulf of Mexico. The summit level of the new, or Pennsylvania 
and Ohio Canal, lies about half a mile to the south east of the vil- 
lage. ‘The whole distance of deep cutting will be sixty six chains, 
and averaging in depth about eighteen feet below the natural surface. 
Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal.—The length of the line of this 
canal, as reported by Col. Kearney of the U.S. ate agelee En- 
gineers, is as follows: 
From Akron, eis di summit of the Ohio Canal, to the Ravenna 
summit, - 25 miles. 
From — summit to —— River, soley @ 
ig 
Total length of canal, ~ - ae 92 « 
