THE LURE OF THE PINEY WOODS 183 



of insects living with the gophers, of which seven 

 proved new to science. All of these are strictly 

 subterranean in habit; with them is sometimes 

 found a toad. How little do we know of the lives 

 of most of the wild creatures! They all have 

 interesting life histories, but alas! many of them 

 are already extinct and others soon will be. 



The rocky floor of the woods is exceedingly 

 rough and irregular, in fact it appears in places 

 as though it had been dynamited in every direction. 

 The surface consists of loose masses of rock of all 

 sizes up to pieces weighing several hundred 

 pounds. This is mixed with a small quantity of 

 soil, sand, decaying wood, and other vegetable 

 debris; the whole, perhaps, thinly overgrown with 

 grass and low plants. In such a foundation the 

 roots of the pines can obtain at best but an inse- 

 cure hold, even though they begin their existence 

 in the depressions or pot holes. While it is not 

 possible to drive a tap root into the solid rock, yet 

 they can push their powerful laterals sidewise 

 through crevices in the more or less disrupted 

 strata. These slowly heave the rock loose, espe- 

 cially when aided by the high winds and hurri- 

 canes which sway the trees. The more the rock 



