October 11, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



473 



half mile or more in width ; the smaller 

 ones being much more numerous and hav- 

 ing usually an area of 20 to 30 acres. They 

 are in some eases approximately round in 

 shape, though they are usually ovoid or el- 



Fig. 3. Sl'eich map of a 'iai/.' a, 'bay'; h, sand ridge; 

 c, intermittent outflow to a stream near by. 



liptical (see Fig. 2), and are covered with 

 vegetation-stained water from a few inches 

 to a foot or two deep, according to the sea- 

 son. Growing in this water, where the 

 ' bay ' is uncleared, are cypress, juniper or 

 black-gum trees with a moderately thick 

 swamp undei-growth. 



Except when overflowed in a rainy sea- 

 son, there is often in the smaller ' baj^s ' no 

 permanent drainage. In the larger ones 

 a small streamlet usually rises. 

 When cleared for cultivation, 

 the first requisite is to dig a 

 ditch to the nearest stream or 

 main ditch sufficiently deep for 

 thorough drainage. 



A sand ridge borders each ' bay ' on the 

 east and southeast and sometimes extends 

 fairly well round toward the south, but is 

 never found, so far as I could ascertain, on 

 the ivest or north (see Fig. 2, b). The size 

 of this sand ridge varies with the size of 

 the' bay,' rising in some well-pronounced 

 cases 5 or 6 feet above the general level in 

 the highest part and thinning out near both 

 ends. In the usual case, however, it rises 

 only some 2 or 3 feet above the general sur- 

 face level. The width of the ridge varies 

 from a rod to three or four rods. The 



transverse surface curvature is most often 

 uniform, or if more precipitous on one side 

 than on the other no law could be found 

 governing such variation (see Fig. 3). 



A gentleman owning large tracts of land 

 containing ' bays,' and having been a close 

 observer of them, gave me much informa- 

 tion and went a number of times to visit 

 them with me. He called my attention 

 to the fact that on first attempting to 

 drain them for cultivation he had tried 

 cutting ditches through this sand ridge, but 

 found that the sand caved so easily (be- 

 ing, in a few cases, very quick) that it was 

 very difficult to dig and keep such ditches 

 open. The sand I thus found extended 

 down below the surface of the adjacent 

 sands and clays. How deep I could not 

 find by direct test, probably not deeper at 

 farthest than 15 to 25 feet, if nearly as deep 

 as that, which I doubt. It is a rounded 

 sand and, though used in Darlington for 

 mortar, is very poor for building purposes. 

 No fossils could be found in it so far as I 

 searched. No stratification was visible. It 

 is agriculturally extremelj^ poor, and from 

 its characteristic whiteness maj' be detected 



Fig. 3. Seciion ' through a hay ' on line A B in Fig. 

 2. A B, general surface level; i, surface of 'bay'; e, 

 clay filling basin of 'bay'; d, sand ridge; c, loose 

 sands and clays dipping gently southeast; /, un- 

 known part; g, pump; h, water level. 



in a field that has been tilled for years. It 

 seems to be a beach sand. 



The basin (see Fig. 3, c) when drained 

 shows a dark fertile, compact claj^, imper- 

 vious to water and with no fossils so far 

 as a rough search could detect. This clay 

 extends down some 15 to 25 feet, as is 

 proved by driven wells that have been 

 forced down through it. No water is got- 



