Prairies of Ohio. 231 
ly.described by either, but well worthy the genius of both. Tate in 
the autumn, the fires which destroy the growth of the preceding year, 
in both wet and dry prairies, are frequently awfully sublime. When 
seen, at night from a distance, a chain of fire seems to extend, in 
every direction, as far as the eye can reach. The blaze often rises, in 
vast coruscations, far above the plane of the horizon. All beyond, 
presents to the imagination, a chaotic waste, while the earth and 
the heavens seem to be fast terminating in one grand conflagration. 
But we will leave the description of such scenery to the graphic pen 
which has already delineated it, and proceed to the proposed detail 
of our observations, on some of the wet prairies in the northern sec- 
tions of Ohio. 
These marshy plains, though frequently quite extensive, are always 
much less so than many of the dry prairies of the Western States. 
They are always surrounded by hills, which vary in height according 
to the extent of the prairie. Their bases contain large quantities of 
water-worn pebbles, with a few fragments of fresh-water shells, in a 
state of partial preservation. ‘The soil of the prairie consists of a 
deep vegetable Joam, covered by tall grass and flowering herbs, ex- 
cept where it is too wet to produce any thing but moss and other wa- 
ter plants. In every part of the prairie the tufts of grass and flow- 
ering plants rise three or four inches above the most inferior surface, 
which is covered, except in the dryest part of the season, with water 
to the depth of from two to six inches. These tufts, however, are 
so nearly connected, that the water is never seen, except where the 
grass is cut, or thrown aside. ‘The soil and productions gradually 
change, as we proceed from the edge to the interior of the grassy 
flat. Here we find a number of ponds, or small lakes, varying in 
size from a few rods to one or two miles in circumference. The 
largest of these ponds are well stored with fish, many of which differ 
but little, except in size, from those found in the northern lakes. 
The only woody plant that grows on the edges of the ponds, belongs 
to the Salix, or willow tribe, except in a few instances, where they 
are thickly surrounded by a dense growth of alder, (Alnus serrula- 
ta.) ‘These ponds, however, from causes which will be presently 
noticed, are gradually disappearing, and their places being supplied 
by the surrounding prairie growth. 
The bogs, or marshy flats, so abundant in wet prairies, constitute 
one of their most singular features. They are occasionally covered, 
