62 Bivalve Shells. 



of the Ohio. The deposit is very abundant in all the hills, and 

 large heaps of it are seen along the sides of the canal, for the use 

 of the furnaces north of the iron region, along ihe Tuscarawas. As 

 we descend the river south, coal becomes more abundant, and the 

 ore dips down to the base of the hills, and finally disappears under 

 the superincumbent strata. Salt water has not yet been found here, 

 although searched for to the depth of three hundred feet. It is very 

 abundant thirty or forty miles east of Zoar, on the waters of Yellow 

 Creek, The community at this place is in a very flourishing con- 

 dition, and shows what the united efforts of a few hundred individu- 

 als can accomplish, when cemented by love and the holy offices of 

 religion. Owen's attempt at communities was founded on a similar 

 plan, but lacked the strong bond of religious rites and feehngs, with- 

 out which man every where loses all nice sense of right and wrong. 

 They appear to be a very happy society, and I do not see how they 

 could be otherwise, while under the care of so sensible and pleasant 

 a guide as Jacob M. Biemler. I left this interesting spot at sun- 

 setting, and proceeded southerly through a well cultivated and very 

 fertile region. The amount of wheat raised in this vicinity is very 

 great, the soil and climate being both congenial to its natural habits. 

 Bivalve Shells. — The canal promises to be of great importance 

 to conchologists, as well as to agriculturists. Wherever there is "a 

 feeder" putting into the canal from the main streams, as for instance 

 the Tuscarawas, Licking or Scioto, the bottom of the canal is liter- 

 ally covered at this time with the most perfect and beautiful speci- 

 mens of bivalve shells. This is especially the fact at Zoar, Newark 

 and Chilicothe. The soft sediment, and the absence of any current 

 to abrade their surfaces, preserve them with their delicate markings 

 unharmed, while in the rivers with gravelly bottoms, the cuticle is al- 

 ways much worn and injured. Who, that has ever paid any attention 

 to the study of conchology, or searched one hour in our streams for 

 shells, does not know, that like land animals and like plants, different 

 species seek different localities as a habitat, where they find a soil, 

 food and climate congenial to their wants. Some species live under 

 flat stones, in rapid water; others in clay, mud, sand, he. Some lie 

 on the surface, and others deeply buried in gravel, beneath the bot- 

 toms of the streams. This is the fact with the Unio oriens and U. 

 Soleniformis. The latter species 1 have never yet found in a living 

 state, although I have often picked up the shells of the recently dead, 

 for the reason that they live in deep water and are buried in mud. The 



