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22
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
the crystalline rocks north of the lakes. In this part of the county are
also found beds of sand and the lake ridges which rest upon the boAvlder
clay. These latter deposits are evidently the effect of shore Avaves, and
are in fact old beaches formed when the lake stood much higher than it
now does. A good illustration of the mode of deposition of such sand
banks and ridges is seen on the lake shore betAveen Cedar Point and
Huron. Here the mouth of Sandusky bay is partially closed by a ridge
throAvn up by the waves which Avill ultimately dike oiit the lake from and
reclaim a large area formerly covered by navigable water. BetAveen the
ridges and sand hills which stretch east and west, north of Prout's Station,
is a surface, level to the eye, formed by a fine black soil which covers
the limestone here, presenting a remarkably level surface and nowhere
deeply buried. This district Avas originally prairie, with islands of timber,
and has proved the most fertile and productive portion of the county.
We have here a broad surface of lime stone planed down nearly as
level as a house floor. This was doubtless once covered with drift clay,
but has been removed by the waves of the lake when they sAvept over it.
Subsequently, when the Avater of the lake had been withdrawn, this tract
was left in a condition similar to that of the upper end of Sandusky
Bay, or to that of the space behind the barrier east of the city, viz.:
covered with shallow, quiet water, which Avas gradually replaced by a
fine sediment, mixed with the remains of the luxuriant vegetation that
grew there. The result was a sheet of remarkably fine, rich soil, having
all the characteristics of the prairie soils of the west, and, like them,
covered with a groAvth of grass rather than trees. In future ages, Avhen
Lake Erie shall be further drained, what is IIOAV Sandusky Hay Avill
undoubtedly present nearly the same appearance as the district under
consideration.
CASTALIA SPRINGS
The phenomena presented by Castalia Springs have excited considerable
curiosity and interest, both on the part of the residents of the
county and of visitors from other states, and deserve a feAV Avords of
description and explanation. As is knoAvn to most persons of Castalia
a volume of water Avhich forms quite a river, AOAVS up from several deep
orifices in the lime-stone rock, and supplies in its descent to the lake
the motive power for several mills. The water maintains nearly the same
temperature winter and summer, and its AOAV is more uniform than that
pf surface streams in the vicinity, though sensibly affected by periods
of unusual and wide-spread drought. The Avater of the springs is highly
charged Avith lime, rapidly inerusting any object covered by it, and it
has deposited a sheet of travertine over an area of several square miles
in the vicinity. The rock in which the subterranean channels are excavated,
through which the waters of the springs flow, is the Avater lime,
the uppermost members of the Silurian system. This is magnesian limestone,
in fact, a typical dolomite, containing about 42 per cent
magnesia and 55 of carbonate of lime. This rock forms on the
surface an unbroken sheet, reaching from Castalia to Logan County, the