Grand Rapids, Michigan, is situated in the western part of the State, thirty miles from Lake Michigan, in N. lat. 42° 58′, in W. long. 85° 40′, with an altitude of between 600 and 700 feet. The underlying formation, outcropping in the bed of the river, is the subcarboniferous limestone, and the soil is for the most part a sandy or gravelly loam. The surface of the surronding country is rolling and diversified by numerous small lakes, with tamarack swamps and peat bods scattered here and there. The timber is mainly hard wood, but now and then an aged, solitary, pine or a group of younger pines in an out-of-the-way nook reminds us of the fact that we are within the limits of the pine region, while much of the land formerly covered by pine is now occupied by a growth of low oak scrub.