98 Prairies of Alabama. 



er places, every thing is drooping and withering from excessive heat, 

 a cool breeze is " ever on the wing." This is owing to the elevation, 

 of the prairies and the absence of timber. 



During my last visit to the prairies, I found a substance existing in 

 considerable quantities, resembling the coral, or some of the zoophytic 

 families. It is nearly as hard as flint rock. I collected several speci- 

 mens, but have lost them. Some months back, I saw in the possession 

 of a gentleman, several very interesting prairie specimens. They were 

 said to be Shark's teeth, from an inch to an inch and a half in length, 

 slender and very sharp. Among them are also pieces of the vertebrae 

 of fishes. They were procured in a section of the prairies which I 

 have never visited ; which, abounding in specimens of the kind just 

 mentioned, is the most interesting portion of this singular country. 



It is a well established fact, that the earth and sea have undergone 

 frequent and violent revolutions ; and that the change which left the 

 prairies dry is the most recent, is evident from the perfect state in 

 which shells, &,c. are now found, and from the fact that vegetation in 

 many places, has made but slow progress. The nature of the soil 

 indicates some ingredient adverse to many kinds of plants. But it is 

 evidently fast changing, and it is not unlikely, that in the course of 

 time, it will entirely lose its distinctive character and become perfect- 

 ly amalgamated with vegetable matter. The process of decomposi- 

 tion and reproduction is rapidly going on in most places, and at every 

 successive crop of plants, more matter is added, for the final accom- 

 plishment of the great change. It would be an interesting subject of 

 inquiry, whether the woodlands are not gradually encroaching on the 

 naked places ; and if so, it would show at once that the prairies are, 

 by natural operations, slowly losing their peculiarities. 



Postscript. — A gentleman of Clarke County, Alabama, states, that 

 on his plantation, are parts of the back bone of some large animal, 

 from eight to ten inches long, and proportionally large in circumfer- 

 ence — some still held together by the cartilaginous ligatures. Many 

 of the early settlers used them instead of andirons. There is no ca- 

 nal for the spinal marrow. An early settler informed him, that he had 

 seen an entire skeleton, on the surface of the earth; it was of enor- 

 mous dimensions, longer as is reported, than the largest whale. 



Remark. — It is exceedingly desirable that the animal remains de- 

 scribed in this page should be collected and examined, and we trust 

 that our intelligent correspondent, will not permit it to be neglect- 

 ed. — Ed. 



