CLEVELAND TO TOLEDO. 251 



was of course immediately told of the wonders of the 

 " waters/' which I learned form quite an attraction in 

 summer and keep the little place in a flutter of excite- 

 ment. 



Marshall Burton came in 1836 and laid out this 

 prairie town at the head of Coal Creek. Finding the 

 source of the stream in a cool^ clear spring, now known 

 to be two hundred feet in diameter and sixty feet 

 deep, named the place " Castalia/^ from the famed 

 Greek fountain at the foot of Parnassus. The waters 

 of this spring are so pure that objects are plainly seen 

 through the sixty liquid feet, and they say that when 

 the sun reaches meridian, these objects reflect the 

 colors of the rainbow, which might suggest to Casta- 

 lians that the ancient sun-god, Apollo, favored the 

 western namesake of his Delphian fount. I met no 

 poets here, but possibly inspiration is not one of the 

 powers guaranteed. Indeed if it should treat devotees 

 of the Divine Art, as it does everything else that is 

 plunged into it, we should have petrified poets. 



These petrifying qualities of the water, caused by the 

 combined action of lime, soda, magnesia and iron have 

 made the mill-wheels which turn in Coal Creek in- 

 capable of decay. 



At a little distance frona the town is a cave of quite 

 large dimensions, which was discovered accidentally 

 through a dog running into the opening in pursuit of 

 a rabbit. This cave I believe makes up the comple- 

 ment of natural attractions about the village. The 

 chief attraction, the social life of the people, cannot be 

 guessed at by the rapid glance of the traveller. But 

 even a short sojourn here is apt to be remembered 

 long and pleasantly. Ohioans are notably hospitable. 



