106 ' JVotices of Fossil Wood in Ohio. 



being in view from the spot. No stream of water large enough to 

 drive a mill, is nearer to the place than the Great Miami, which is five 

 miles to the w^st. 



William Huston, one mile farther west than Skillman's, on ground 

 about twenty five feet lower, dug a well in 1830, in which he found 

 wood almost continually, after he had descended eighteen feet, and 

 he continued to find it to the depth of forty-five feet. At the depth 

 of forty feet, he found a tree twelve inches in diameter crossing the 

 well. He is of opinion that he found wood in his well sufficient to 

 fill the body of a cart. He gave me a piece of it, five inches in di- 

 ameter, and a foot long, which is now in my possession. 



Samuel Newel, more than a mile west of Springfield, in digging a 

 well, came upon the top of a tree lying almost horizontally, at the 

 depth of twenty four feet, at which depth he relinquished digging, on 

 account of the sides of the well caving in, and commenced again 

 about two rods from the other place, on ground about two feet high- 

 er, the ground gently sloping for some distance. In this second well 

 he came upon the same tree, at the depth of twenty feet, uncover- 

 ing the trunk near the root, the trunk there being broken, as is not 

 uncommon with fallen trees. 



Mr. Compton, in the summer of 1832, found wood in digging a 

 well at the depth of nineteen feet. Some specimens are in my pos- 

 session. This place is more than a mile south of Springfield, and a 

 mile east of Mr. Long's, before mentioned. 



Other similar facts are in my knowledge, collected in the vicinity, 

 which I forbear to detail, on account of their similarity. 



Eighteen miles north-east of Springfield, on the east side of the 

 Little Miami, and four miles from this river, Thomas Dickey, Esq. 

 found wood, in digging a well last summer, at the depth of sixteen 

 feet. TwO( pieces of these I procured of him last week ; one was 

 taken from the top of a stump near the place, and the other lying 

 on the ground. In explanation of their being thus left in the v?eather 

 during the winter, and so in danger of being lost, he remarked that 

 such facts were common in bis neighborhood. 



It is obvious from the facts respecting Mr. Newel's wells, that the 

 ground about Springfield had a more uneven surface, before these 

 trees were covered, than at present ; for the surface, which now 

 slopes two feet in two rods, then sloped six feet in the same distance, 

 and even more if the branches of the tree bore the top from the 

 ground, higher than the roots, which is common, when trees have- 

 laraose tops. 



