1 8 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES 



cataract 8 feet high pouring over the last exposure of limestone in the 

 valley, the bed rock from here to the Scioto being shale. In the bot- 

 tom land, just east of the falls, is a very large gravel deposit, part of 

 the old moraine, with lower ground between it and the hills to the 

 southward. It is apparent that at a comparatively recent date the 

 creek has flowed through, or south of, the site of Bainbridge. More 

 time is required for one fully to realize that he has followed thus far 

 what was once only a tributary to a far larger stream ; that Rattle- 

 snake formerly had its mouth just above the Falls; and that only now 

 has he reached the true valley of Paint creek. But the sudden widen- 

 ing from a few hundred feet to nearly a mile ; the break in the hills 

 to the southward, filled with gravel-knolls over 150 feet high ; the per- 

 sistence of this gravel up to Beech Flats with rock-capped hills on 

 either side ; the width of the valley, almost as great at the Falls as at 

 any point below ; — all are proof that the headwaters of Paint must be 

 sought to the southwest, possibly as far away as Brown or even Cler- 

 mont county, for all the streams rising in the area which may form- 

 erly have been drained by this lost part of Paint creek flow southward 

 or westward through gorges or narrow troughs in their whole course, 

 none having the broad valley so characteristic of this. Mr. H. W. 

 Overman, of Waverly, pointed out years ago that the drainage of 

 Ohio Brush creek was reversed, its natural course being to the north 

 instead of to the south. The same will probably be found true of 

 other streams still more to the west. 



Leaving this for future determination, our student goes on down 

 the broadened valley, admiring the wonderful fertility of the soil, the 

 fine farms, the picturesque beauty of the sloping or, sometimes, pre- 

 cipitous hills that border it. Perhaps he turns aside at F to exam- 

 ine the vertical exposure of nearly 300 feet of shale at Copperas 

 mountain into whose base the creek has cut its way; he notices a dark 

 line near the top which marks the separation between the Devonian 

 and the Subcarboniferous. Similar, but much smaller, sections may 

 be found at other places where the creek cuts against one hill or the 

 other as it swings back and forth across the intervening space. Not 

 far below F \% 2i fine vertical exposure of gravel capped with clay 

 and sand, in all about 60 feet ; the bank is rapidly caving and is now 

 several yards within the original line of the pike which has been twice 

 moved back. Finally the creek, skirting along the southern range of 

 hills, is lost to sight for about three miles and is next seen at Slate 



