Introduction to Life of the Lakes. 107 



comes in this way: We have given a large 

 lake hundreds of miles in extent into which 

 several rivers and very many smaller streams 

 empty, all flowing from the surrounding hills. 

 Now into these streams the wash and wear 

 of the whole surface of the hills are slowly 

 drifting to the lowest places. Once dumped 

 into the flooded stream bed all this is taken 

 up by the current and washed down to the 

 lake and out into its depths, to be covered 

 in its muddy sediments. This granted as the 

 ordinary course of things, it is readily seen 

 that there is no sick or wounded animal of the 

 hills passing to the banks of the streams to 

 drink, but is liable to die there, and the next 

 flood will wash what is left of its skeleton into 

 the lake, where it is soon buried in the soft 

 mud of the sediment. In this way the skele- 

 tons, or scattered bones, of not only the larger 

 animals, but those of rabbits, rats and squir- 

 rels from the hills, are borne to their resting 

 place in the depth of these waters. 



The ocean has its own way of covering up 

 and preserving a bank of oyster shells or 



