SOME FLORIDA LAKES AND LAKE BASINS. 
E. H. SELLARDS. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Florida is justly celebrated for the number and beauty of its 
lakes. These lakes vary in size from the small ponds which scarce¬ 
ly exceed a few rods in circumference to the great Okeechobee, the 
surface area of which exceeds 700 square miles. Okeechobee is 
in fact noteworthy as being, with the exception of Lake Michigan, 
the largest fresh water lake lying wholly within the United States. 
In depth the Florida lakes are likewise variable, and in fact the 
depth is frequently in inverse ratio to the size. Many of the large 
lakes are comparatively shallow, while some of the small lakes are 
deep. This is particularly true of the small sink-hole lakes, some 
of which, while not exceeding a few rods in circumference have a 
depth of one to two hundred or more feet. In origin and his¬ 
tory of development the Florida lakes are as variable as in other 
characteristics. 
The lakes described in this paper include only a few of the many 
Florida lakes and represent a type peculiar in character and in 
manner of development. They are fresh water lakes, often of con¬ 
siderable size, although usually relatively shallow as compared to 
their areal extent. Moreover they are variable in character. Un¬ 
der normal conditions they are clear water lakes abounding in fish 
and the favorite haunt of the wild duck. They have as a rule no 
surface outlet, yet from many of them the water has at times 
disappeared in a manner seemingly inexplicable. In most instances 
the lakes thus disappearing have refilled slowly. Some of them, 
however, have remained dry a number of years. A correct under¬ 
standing of these lakes together with the origin and development 
of the basins which they occupy is necessarily based on a study of 
the geologic formations which underlie them. 
The fall of 1909 offered an exceptionally favorable time for in¬ 
vestigating lakes of this character. The prolonged dry weather 
of the past few years had reduced these lakes to a low stage offer¬ 
ing an opportunity of examining the soil and vegetation as well as 
the geologic structure of their basins. At the Tallahassee sta¬ 
tion in Leon County, near which several of these lakes are located, 
the rainfall at the close of 1909 had been below normal as shown 
by the weather bureau records for two years in succession. At 
the Gainesville station in Alachua County, the rainfall had been 
