May, 1912.] A Study of Buckeye Lake and Vicinity. 525 
The outline is very irregular due to many indentations and small 
fringing islands, and changes from year to year. This is due to 
the frequent and extreme changes in water level in the lake. For 
four years within my knowledge, the water was lowered every 
summer, over G feet in 1909, so that repairs might be made. The 
storm winds of winter every year detach fragments of the island 
and sweep them away. 
The vegetation is of peculiar interest; for it consists of typical 
bog plants characteristic today of high temperate latitudes and 
generally accepted to be relicts of early post-glacial times, stranded 
and persisting and now surrounded by the normal vegetation of 
the present climatic conditions. 
The typical bog plants are several species of Sphagnum, the 
Cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus), the Sundew (Drosera rotun- 
difolia), several species of bog sedges as Carex limosa and C. 
filiformis, the Buckbean (Menyanthes triloba) and Scheuchzeria 
palustris forming a bog-meadow bordered by a zone of bog-shrubs 
of which the Poison Sumac (Rhus vemix) the Black Alder (Ilex 
vertieillata) and the Choke Berry (Aronia arbutifolia and A nigra) 
are the most characteristic 
Soundings in the bog revealed the presence of a sandy shell 
marl, a lake deposit, at a depth of 28 feet. The marl was still 
foun in some places at the IS foot level giving a depth of 10 feet 
of shell marl. The presence of marl may be taken as an indication 
of Characeae or Cyanophyceae. Immediately above the marl 
was a dark brown or black plastic deposit with fragments of 
Potamogeton and Scirpus lacustris. These are pond plants 
growing in water not deeper than sA/i to 6 feet. In another 
sounding the core from the 22 foot level showed a fine gradation 
between the marl and the pond deposit. At 15 feet the core 
showed a preponderance of sedge material, which indicates water 
at less than 5 feet. At 7 feet the core contained Sphagnum 
mixed with the sedge remains. At 5 feet the peat was loosely 
matted, coarsely fibrous but little modified Sphagnum fragments 
with roots and stems of cranberry and other plants. Large water 
pockets were encountered near the surface and even at a depth 
of 17 feet. At the bottom of this series containing evidence of 
lake and pond deposits is a fine grained blue clay. The blue clay 
varied from the 28 to the 40 foot level. Soundings deeper than 
40 feet could not be taken as that was the maximum length of the 
sounding rod. This fine grained blue clay belongs I believe to the 
Illinoian drift. 
The records of these soundings sketch the history of the island. 
At the northern margin of the ancient lake species of Potamogeton 
and other aquatics formed a more or less dense mat. The water 
gradually became more shallow through the accumulation of silt 
and plant remains; and the aquatics were succeeded by semi- 
