26 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



the rains found a chance to make a rill, but which, in twenty 

 years, was 300 yards long, 20 to 180 feet wide, and 55 feet deep. 

 And Liais describes a similar gorge, of twice the length, in Brazil, 

 made in forty years." 



Many other instances of the wearing away of the rocks by 

 water might be given, but these will suffice to show that during the 

 long periods of time that have elapsed since the Cincinnati island 

 was first elevated above the water, there has been ample oppor- 

 tunity for extensive denudation, and it is no wonder that the face 

 of the country is vastly altered. Let us now proceed to examine 

 the situation of the city, and see if we can trace the history of the 

 present conditions. 



Such an investigation is beset with many difficulties. Not the 

 least of these are the changes which have been wrought by the 

 gradual growth of the city, and the encroachment upon the high 

 ground which partly surrounds it. Laying out streets and build- 

 ing lots ; leveling elevations, and filling valleys, tend to greatly 

 change the aspect of the country. So that what was once rolling 

 land becomes level ; what was once the bed of a raging torrent or 

 a gently murmuring brook, becomes a covered drain; what was 

 once an abrupt height becomes a gentle gradient ; and what was 

 once a level plateau becomes marked by the innumerable excava- 

 tions made in the process of quarrying stone. All these changes 

 must be considered in a study of this sort, although some few re- 

 minders are often left to guide us to a correct view of what was 

 once. 



Cincinnati proper occupies an extensive plain or bottom land 

 extending in a semi-circle, with the Ohio river on the south, and a 

 series of elevations on the north known commonly as Mt. Adams, 

 Walnut Hills, Clifton Heights and Roe's Hill. At the western side 

 of the city is the extensive valley of Mill Creek, a valley several 

 miles wide, and extending many miles to the north and northeast. 

 Beyond Mill Creek is another elevated ridge, at the south end of 

 which is situated the suburb of Price Hill. South of the Ohio 

 river lie Covington and Newport, divided by the Licking river, 

 and occupying part of the same extensive plain upon which Cin- 

 cinnati is built. These two cities are encompassed on the south 

 by a range of highland extending in a semi-circle, similar to the 

 range on the north side of the river. 



In what is now the main business part of the city, the plain 

 has two terraces. One of these finds its level approximately 



