REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR, I922 23 
the archeologist, Arthur C. Parker, are the property of the New 
York Central Railroad. The hill which is made up of these flint 
ledges and the debris of the arrow-maker was acquired by the West 
Shore Railroad at the time of construction, in the expectation that 
it would be a source of ballast. It proved unavailable for the pur- 
pose, and as it stands far from the right-of-way of the railroad it has 
apparently never served any useful purpose to the road. It was 
thought that under these conditions the New York Central would be 
willing to donate this stony and valueless land to the State Museum 
as a state archeological reservation. The president of the road has 
declined to do this except on payment of a purchase price which 
is not as yet within the possibility of the Museum to meet. 
Isle-au-Haut is an island in East Penobscot Bay, Me., about 25 
miles southwest of Mount Desert. It is a glaciated mass of highly 
folded granites of Precambrian age. Between its north-south folds 
or faults lies a little lake 21%4 miles long and one-fourth of a mile 
wide. This tongue of fresh water is on the east side of the island, 
separated from the sea by a narrow barrier of rock, only a few rods 
wide. Its bottom lies 50 feet below sea level and its surface only 10 
feet above it. Its water is largely supplied by bottom springs ; its out- 
let to the sea is narrow and disappears between the rocks into the 
shingle of the beach. The mineral composition of the water is very 
peculiar; the animal life of the lake is very scanty; its plant life 
curious. From the bottom of the center of the lake, where it is 
anchored by its roots, projects the vertical trunk of an arbor vitae 
tree to a height of 5 feet above the water. These singular features 
intimate such an unusual history for the lake, that private arrange- 
ments were made this past season to get together the data which may 
help to throw light upon its origin. Sherman C. Bishop and Noah 
T. Clarke, of the Museum staff, spent some weeks in making obser- 
vations and collections at this station and a report upon these is 
attached to this bulletin. 
The automobile is an essential factor in our modern life for pleas- 
use and for good, but it is also a greater factor in the rapid destruction 
of wild flowers by those thoughtless persons who can not be satisfied 
with seeing wild flowers in their home ground amid incomparable 
surroundings, but needs must uproot, break down and gather them 
by the armful. Thus they gain a few brief hours of doubtful pleas- 
ure which the flowers may yield from bowls and vases. Then the 
faded flowers go to join the despised contents of the garbage can. 
Where they-formerly grew in the woods, their beauty will not again 
