i eet it 
1903] VEGETATION OF THE BAY OF FUNDY MARSHES a i 
the soil, but also to prevent the ever-present tendency to for- 
mation of bog plants. This drainage is accomplished by a sys- 
tem of open ditches, which, small and only a foot or two deep 
away from the rivers, are much larger and deeper near them, 
partly to give a fall and partly because of the greater height of 
the marsh there. At the outlets of these ditches on the rivers 
the fresh water is allowed to drain out by an arrangement that 
does not allow the tide to enter, namely, by placing under the 
dike a wooden ‘‘sluice” in which hangs a “clapper,” hinged at 
the top and inclining outwards toward the river at the bottom 
(fig. 5). When the tide is out, the pressure of the fresh water 
Fic. 5. — Diagrammatic cross-section through the marsh from tidal river to 
upland, showing a sluice. 
opens this; when the tide rises its weight tightly closes it. Of 
course the fresh water then accumulates in the ditches, but never 
for long, for the sluice is not far below high-water mark. These 
sluices and clappers last indefinitely, apparently preserved by some 
antiseptic action of the salt water. A sluice of this kind is used 
not only in the ditches but frequently in a dike thrown across 
an entire river, as in the case of the Aulac. The entire structure, 
dike and sluice, is then called an ‘‘aboideau,” and such a river 
is said to be “ aboideaued.’’*® 
76 A word introduced by the Acadians from Saintonge, France, where it is still 
used in the form aéofeaz. Its origin is fully discussed in the New Brunswick Maga- 
zine 1: 225, 226, 284, 340, and 3:218. Naturally some other peculiar uses of words 
have grown up in the marsh country. Thus, the word tide is used for the salt water 
itself, and one often hears “ let the tide on the marsh.” Also the word is used come 
stantly as a verb, as “ They intend to tide the marsh,” 7. ¢., to let the salt water om it; 
and “It was tided last year.” The word ditch is used also as a verb. A large section 
of marsh surrounded by a single dike is called “a body.” In Nova Scotia, the word 
dike is applied to the marsh itself (no doubt abbreviated from “diked land "), while 
the dike is called the “running dike,” but the usage in New Brunswick is as in this 
paper. The word marsh itself is rather a misnomer and is said locally to do the 
country some damage by giving an unfavorable impression of its character. 
