1816.1 



Account of Cincinnati. 



141 



brated reef, bordering that promontory, 

 are calcareous. From the Muskingum 

 and great Sandy on the east, tliis forma- 

 tion extends westwardly beyond tlie 

 Mate of Ohio, but to what distance, has 

 not been ascertained. After passing the 

 Great Miami, in this direction, the 

 strata become disjointed, and lose their 

 coutimuty, but show themselves, occa- 

 sionally, even beyond the Mississippi. 

 The lead mines, in the rear of St. Gene- 

 vieve, abound in crystallized carbonate 

 of lime; and the strata of the bed of the 

 liver, near that town, are said to resem- 

 ble those of Cincinnati, except that they 

 contain a notable proportion of chert or 

 petrosilex. 



The strata throughout tiiis extensive 

 region a^ijco in having a horizontal posi- 

 tion, and in containing marine remains ; 

 it is thorei'ore a tloetz, or secondai-y for- 

 mation — a vast precipitate ii-om a lake 

 or sea of salt water. To what depth it 

 extends beneath the bed of the Ohio has 

 not been ascertained. In some parts of 

 Kentucky, perforations in search of salt 

 have been made more than three hun- 

 dred feet deep, without passing through 

 it. 



No vestiges of sea animals are to be 

 foiuid in these ancient strata, except a 

 large bivalve shell, the name of which 

 I am unable to assign. But the more 

 recent tract of greyish blue limestone 

 around Cincinnati, contains nmncrous 

 marine exuviae, of which the following 

 are the most common. 



1. The anomia terehraUila and pla- 

 centa — both composed of carbonate of 

 lime. They are found in abundance, 

 sometimes detached and between the 

 strata, at other times irnhedded or conso- 

 fidated, never compressed, and occa- 

 sionally studded inside with six sided 

 jiyramids of crystallized limestone. 



2. The habitations of several species 

 of nautilus, usually dcnominateil beleni- 

 niltt, cortiua amnvtnia, thunder-stones, i^c. 

 found both detached and imbedded, con- 

 sisting generally of carbonate of lime. 



3. EiUrochi or pullies, formerly sup- 

 posed to exist only iti the f<)ssil state, 

 now said to be the remahis of a species 

 of isis or coral, named the isis entrocha. 

 'J'liese arc all siliceous, and are common- 

 ly found detached. 



4. JJilii'nint species oi corallina or co- 

 rallini; found imbedded atid detached, 

 in large f|u;mlitics — generally calcare- 

 ous, now and then siliceous. 



Many other Kpccies, and perhaps ge- 

 nera, uf tktue carious rciQiUus, cuuid 



undoubtedly be designated by a skilful 

 naturalist. 



I have never observed the bones of 

 any land animals between, or imbedded 

 in, the strata of this formation. The 

 head of the sustajassn, or hog of Mexico, 

 discovered by Dr. Brown in one of th& 

 nitrons caves of Kentucky, bad, in all 

 probability, been brought and deposited 

 tiiere by the former inhabitants of this 

 country. 



The metals hitherto found in this for- 

 mation arc not numerous. Where it 

 borders on the sandstone region, as to- 

 wards tlie Scioto and in Kentucky, iron 

 ore of an excellent quality has been dis- 

 cove.-ed. Near to the Yellow Spring, ia 

 Green county, specimens of silver ore, ot 

 blend and pyrites, have been dug up, but 

 not in sufficient quantities to be worked. 

 In the Indiana territory, where the same 

 formation exists, combined and inter- 

 mixed with much siliceous matter, blend 

 and galena have been found. 



Of saline matters, tlie most valuable 

 wliieh it affords are common salt, glau- 

 ber's salt, epsom salt, saltpetre, and cal^ 

 carcous iu"tre. The tlu'ee first have only- 

 been found in solution ; the latter exist 

 a'nmdantly in some of the sandstone 

 strata and limestone caverns of Ken- 

 tucky, and in some j)arts of this State, 



II. The alluvial lands on the soutJt 

 side of the Oliio are narrow, but to the. 

 north of that river, when a looser stratifi- 

 cation has permitted the streams to un- 

 dermine their banks, the valleys; are ia 

 general from one quarter to a mile in 

 breadth, and the depositions of albivion 

 very great. This is especially true of 

 the Ohio, the Miamies, and their tribu- 

 tary and intermediate streams. Tli« 

 lands of this formation generally rise, iu 

 two or three successive tables, from the 

 stream to the hill, and are evidently of 

 different ages. Most of them are lower 

 near the hill than at the side adjoining 

 to the river ; this is perhaps owing to the 

 descent, in former times, of wafer froin 

 the uplands, which, u|)on reaching the 

 plain, instead of traversing it, would 

 flow along tlie base of the bill, the stir- 

 face in that direction having the same 

 fall with the stream : thus, in the rear of 

 most bottom lands, there are brooks or 

 rivulets. The older alluvions are com- 

 posed chiefly of sand, gravel, and water- 

 worn pebbles, covered from two to six 

 feet deep with a bed of yellow is!i loam, 

 that su))ports but a thin layer of soil. 

 They are not without clay, iron, and ve- 

 getable reuiiiius, tliougli, ia general, 



tliesa 



