Geology of Cincinnati. 3^ 



It is said that the City of Louisville stands upon part of a 

 filled up channel of the Ohio river, and what are now the falls of 

 the Ohio are the remains of the heavy bedded rocks cut through 

 by the stream in its efforts to form a new channel. It is likely 

 that the same is the case with Cincinnati. The city proper stands 

 upon part of this filled up channel or lake bed, and the new 

 channel of the river has cut far enough into the rocks to sweep 

 away all obstructions and permit free passage to the stream. The 

 remains of the barrier are found in the beds exposed near Ludlow, 

 Kentucky, and above the Cincinnati Southern Railway Bridge 

 (C. N. O, & T. P. R. R.), as well as in what is known as 

 " McCullum's Riffle,' a conspicuous bar in low water, a few miles 

 below the city. No doubt that at the period when the barrier 

 stretched unbrokenly across from Price Hill to Ludlow, and 

 when the two previous outlets of the lake were filled with sand 

 and gravel, the water formed a rapid for miles over this barrier. 

 Constant attrition has worn it away, and now it has completely dis- 

 appeared from the channel, and forms no obstruction to naviga- 

 tion such as is found at the present day at Louisville. 



We have thus far traced the geological history of Cincinnati 

 and tried to explain the reasons for its present aspect, but as yet 

 nothing has been said of the minute topography of the city's 

 suburbs. As, however, this paper has already reached a consid- 

 erable length, the second portion of our subject must be left for 

 another period, when I hope to have collected material to show 

 just how the land is drained, and to point out several as yet un- 

 noted facts in the surface geology. 



[t(j be concluded.] 



