430 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



of which he may read the history of the life and changes of the past, or 

 of those products of the earth, which are so indispensable to mankind, as 

 ores, fossil, coal, and valuable stone, which elsewhere offer such induce- 

 ments to geological investigations. Still I hope that what I shall pre- 

 sent of the geology of those counties will not be utterly devoid of interest 

 to those most concerned, and none the less because I have not attempted 

 to startle them by any inventions of my own, but tell only what I have 

 seen, and that in a "plain, unvarnished" way. In these counties one 

 will not fail to observe huw the character and employment of the people 

 depend upon the geological iormations which underlie their habitations. 

 Here are no rapid streams affording power for manufacturing purposes, 

 and no iron or coal upon which to build the industries which depend 

 upon them. No. cities teeming with pressing throngs employed in the 

 arts of busy life. The level surface of underlying rock, with the no less 

 level superficial covering, the deep, black loam point to agriculture as 

 the chief employment of the citizens of these counties. The character 

 of the soil also determines the kind of agricultural products which may 

 most profitably be produced ; and thus the range of human employment 

 is doubly limited. The soil of the larger portion of these counties, in- 

 cluding nearly the whole extent of Fayette, is finely adapted to the 

 growth of the most nutritious grasses, as well as the principal cereal 

 grains. Hence stock-raising has very naturally been the chief occupa- 

 tion of the people. It is thus that the geological character of a country 

 modifies the employments, and, to a certain extent, determines the char- 

 acter of those who dwell in it. Where good roads are easily constructed, 

 and where ready access is had to all parts of a district, there is apt to be 

 a high development of social qualities, and of the refinements of civilized 

 life. 



The land is held in large bodies, causing a sparseness of population, 

 which has had, in times past, an unfavorable influence upon the charac- 

 ter of public education. The great energy displayed in constructing 

 public roads has rendered large school districts less inconvenient than 

 they would be where good roads are impossible. 



t 



DRAINAGE. 



The. parting-line of the water-shed of the Little Miami and Scioto 

 Rivers runs a little west of the line separating Clinton and Fayette coun- 

 ties. Consequently Clinton county is mostly drained into the Little 

 Miami River, and Fayette county wholly into the Scioto. The drainage 

 of Clinton county is mostly effected by Anderson's, Todd's Forks, and 

 the East Fork of the Miami. 



