145 Collections from 



i!iese are less abundant tlian the newer 

 alluvions. The nppcr tabic in tlie town 

 «f Cincinnati is of this kind. The gra- 

 ▼cl and pebbles are chieHy calcareous, 

 though the water-worn fragments of 

 ehcrt, flint, quartz, and granite, are not 

 iincommon. A large proportion of the 

 ealcareous pebbles are fragments of the 

 Tariety of limestone last described. Ho- 

 rizontal veins of blue clay now and then 

 present tiiemselvcs near tlie southern 

 edge of this plain. Veins of ferruginous 

 pudding-stone (gravel cemented by iron) 

 exist in a few places, and injure the well 

 ■water Vegetable substances, chiefly 

 the decaying remnants of trees, have 

 been found in different parts, at various 

 depths, from twenty to one hundred 

 feet. The larger pcbl)les of this tract 

 arc generally nearest the surface, and on 

 the side ne\t the river. Tlic beds of 

 sand lie, in most parts, at considerable 

 depths, and have an oblitiue or wave- 

 like stratification, while tli.'<t of the su- 

 perincumbent pebbles is chietly hori- 

 zontal. The bottom, or lower tab:e, is 

 eomposed of loam and clay to the depth 

 of twenty feet or more, when gravel and 

 sand, entirely siliceous, and unlike those 

 of the hill, present themselves and con- 

 tinue down to the limc-stonc rocks. 

 The soil of this tract, as of all the rc- 

 ecntly formed bottoms, is deep and 

 fertile. 



The prairies of the no:tIiern part of 

 tlie Miami country all belong to the 

 alluvial formation. Many of them are 

 low, wet, level, rich, and in the situation 

 of new alluvions, others appear lo bo 

 very ancient, are elevated nearly to the 

 highest point of the suirouuding cotm- 

 try, and would not be supposed alluvial, 

 before a geological exaniiuation, or an 

 inspection of the bordering woodlands. 

 They are composed of water-worn peb- 

 bles, gravel and sand, and are termi- 

 nated by banks from ten to twenty feet 

 in height. JMost of them have outlets, 

 through wliich are discharged small 

 streams of pure water. 



It is stmicwliat singular that the allu- 

 vial lands contain so few remains of 

 river animals, as have hitherto been 

 found. In Cinciiniati, the only vestiges 

 of this kind, are some shells of the genus 

 ynya, which inhabits the Ohio. A num- 

 ber of those were found at the depth of 

 forty feet, in digging for water, near the 

 back part of the hill ; and afterwards in 

 tlie bottom, at about the same depth, 

 and at the distance of two hundred feet 

 from the river bank. In the former 

 ease, they were lying iu eonuexiou witli 



Americnn Literature. [Sept. I, 



grape-vines, and other vegetable matter. 

 In the latter there was found with tho 

 s!iells(as is as.serted by creditaNc work- 

 men employed in sinking the well) an 

 arrow-head of flint, such as the Indians 

 of this country formerly used. 



The alluvial formation, it would seem, 

 is the usual if not the exclusive bed or 

 depository of the huge cfuadruped re- 

 mains, which have been denominated 

 Mammoth hones. There is reason to be- 

 lieve, that among these, there are seve- 

 ral species, if not genera, none of which 

 exist at the present time. But two 

 kinds have, however, been unequivocally 

 made out. One of these was certainly 

 a species of a elephant, common to Asia 

 and North America. From naturalists 

 it has received the name of Elephas 

 Primigenius, or Mammontcus. The 

 otiicr, whose elephantine characters are 

 doubtful, has been named by our distin- 

 guished countryman. Professor Barton, 

 Elephas Mastodontus. M. Cuvier con- 

 siders it as constituting a new genus, 

 which he has called Mastodonton. Tlie 

 teeth with flat surfaces, belong to the 

 former; those with conical and wedge- 

 shaped projections, to the latter animal. 

 Great quantities of the bones of both, 

 and perhaps of other nondescripts, have 

 been found, mixed with those of the 

 smaller existing quadrupeds of this 

 country, in the valley of "Bigbone," a 

 stream of Kentucky, about 40 miles by 

 water below Cincinnati. They were de- 

 posited about four miles from the river, 

 in a bed of tough blue clay, through 

 which arise several springs of salt water. 

 On Licking river, at the Blue Licks, 

 bones of the same kind have been found, 

 under similar circumstancqs. In the 

 alluviHl lands of the western parts of » 

 Ohio, but few have yet been discovered. flj 

 Near the river St. Mary, one of the ~ 

 branches of the Maumee, a grinder of 

 the first species was dug up. Near Day- 

 ton, contiguous to the Great Miami, a 

 tooth of the second species has been dis; 

 covered. In the upper table on whicb 

 Cincinnati is built, a joint of the back- 

 bone of one of these species was found 

 at the depth of 12 feet from the sur- 

 face. 



The only metal yet discovered, and 

 the only one perhaps existing, in the al- 

 luvial region of this quarter, is iron. In 

 the bottMns of Paint-creek, a branch of 

 Scioto, large quantities of bog ore can be 

 obtained — copperas, alum, and chreo 

 abound in the same places. Near to 

 the village of Springfield, Champain 

 county, ore of tlie same kind has been 

 discovered 



