96 Proceedings of the Ohio State Academy of Science. 



the 900 foot level it must have spread over the plain which ex- 

 tends from the present lake to Newark. This broad sheet of water 

 must, however, have been a temporary one, more in the nature 

 of a broad river than a lake as there are no beaches or other 

 evidences of a lake. The water must soon have fallen to a lower 

 level than the plain and was confined to the long narrow basin 

 occupied by the "Big Swamp." The lowest place in the rim was 

 about 5^ mile south west of the Waste weir, and served as the 

 outlet into the Licking River. This was considerably lower than 

 the present lake. The field just north of the levee at this point is 

 about 880 feet above sea level, whereas the surface of Buckeye 

 Lake at the normal water level is 892 feet. 



Were the vegetation permitted to grow without interference 

 almost the entire lake would in a few years become a continuous 

 growth of fixed aquatics and littoral marsh plants. As it is, 

 large areas are now so covered, notably the western end of the 

 lake which is scarcely more than 4.5 feet deep, the coves of the 

 south shore, the extension of the lake to the north and the whole 

 southeastern lobe. The various societies except in the coves 

 where the growth is dense and competition more active exhibit 

 alternation and not zonation. Accidents of dissemination have 

 been the chief factors in the distribution of the societies. Depth 

 of water and wind exposure have influence on the development, 

 structure and succession of the societies. Soundings were taken 

 to determine the greatest depth in which many of the fixed 

 aquatics will grow. Nelumbo lutea frequently forms pure societies 

 at a depth of 5-5.5 feet. In many places it is associated with 

 Castalia tuberosa at a depth of 5 feet. Potamogeton lonchites 

 was found at a depth of 5 feet ; Polygonum emersum is gregar- 

 ious. It was found at a depth of 5.5 feet and from that in all 

 depths to the exposed mud flats. It has prostrate stems and 

 floating leaves, the apex of the shoot ascending when growing 

 in water, with an erect habit in very shallow water or in 

 the mud. It forms pure societies and is also found associated 

 with fixed aquatics as Nelumbo, Potamogeton sp. and swamp 

 plants Typha and Hibiscus. Typha angustifolia grows at a 



