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 vertebree 
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 andzrons. ‘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. 
