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tiny falls, as they leap from ledge to ledge in their descent. They 

 are mostly shallow, too, except at flood times. The soil is 

 formed principally from a decaying fossiliferous lime-rock, 

 which, in various-sized fragments, covers the surface everywhere. 

 The rocks exposed are almost entirely the limestone and mag- 

 nesians of the Lower Silurian, some of which are zinc and lead 

 bearing. 



In some of the "draws," a long line of rocks seems to have 

 split off from the main cliff and slid further down the slope, 

 breaking up into irregular masses, varying from a few feet each 

 way to those of a hundred feet or more in length, and of varying 

 height and breadth. These masses are generally very much 

 weathered and honeycombed, and afford roothold to many plants, 

 and are great hunting grounds for ferns. 



Some of these "draws" are so large as to accommodate a 

 tiny farm of an acre wide at the broadest place, while others will 

 have park-like expanses of fifty to sixty feet, but mostly the 

 bottom of the gulch will not be over a few feet — the width of the 

 bed of a brook, or of the torrent which pours down between the 

 two slopes during the wet season. The valleys of the larger 

 streams are also very narrow. Hundreds of springs trickle from 

 the rocks, and drought seldom occurs. The whole country is 

 heavily timbered, except at about 1.400 feet, where in many 

 places occurs a line of open glades, many of which are con- 

 stantly moist with oozing springs. 



The winters are short and mild, and were it not for the 

 oft-occurring forest fires, the country would be a veritable fern- 

 paradise. These fires undoubtedly account for the rare occur- 

 rence of those species which prefer to grow in the ground. It 

 will be noticed that the species mentioned in my list either occur 

 in places safe from fire, or they are species whose rhizomes lie 

 so deep as to be beyond injury, as in the case of Pteris aquilina 

 and Botrychium, though even these are rare. 



My notes deal more especially with the vicinity of Marble 

 Cave. This cavern is very large, and in common with most 



