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Cincinnati] [Society of Natural History. 



The record of rainfall since 1835, almost half a century, is given be- 

 low. While only at one point, throughout the great Ohio Valley, the 

 general uniformity of average is so marked that some weight may be given 

 to it as indicating to a greater or less degree the general rainfall through- 

 out the basin, it must be kept in mind that local rains often increase the 

 monthly record, which is not a general increase throughout the whole area 

 drained by the Ohio River. On the other hand a general rainfall shows 

 an increase at this as at other points. Thus in July, 1875, 9.47 inches of 

 rain fell, mostly during the latter part of the month, and the record here 

 is of a general rainfall. Such an unprecedented and general outpouring 

 gave rise to the only anomaly in the list of floods, viz., that of August 6, 

 1875—55 feet 5 inches. 



The floods are directly dependent upon the amount of moisture precipi- 

 tated throughout the valley, which is a statement apparently contradictory to 

 the record of rainfall. The explanation lies in the fact that the record 

 often shows great rainfall due only to local rains at this place; while 

 during our winters moisture comes down as snow and hail, and accumulates, 

 and when this melts during a general rainfall later, the streams have a 

 double supply to carry off at once. The records and tables given have 

 been taken from the Report of the Relief Committee of the Chamber of 

 Commerce, of Cincinnati, 1883, U. S. Signal Service and Mr. R. B. 

 Moore, Journal Cincinnati Society Natural History, Vol. I., page 

 57, and other sources already acknowledged. 



This brief sketch, then, is defined at the outset as an attempt to give 

 to each element, which lies at the cause of the floods in the Ohio, its 

 proper value. 



Upon consulting anyone, learned or ignorant upon this subject, all will 

 be found filled with theories or explanations entirely satisfying and con- 

 vincing to themselves, and the number and variety of these reasons is 

 equaled only by the number you consult. 



It is a settled maxim of physicians, that in auy disease where a host of 

 agents are recommended as remedies, none are reliable, and that the treat- 

 ment of that disease is unsatisfactory. It is also equally true that, in any 

 case where, after careful consideration, a number of good lawyers express 

 directly opposite opinions, the law in the case is vague and indefinite. 



The very fact, then, of the great variety of opinions as to the cause of 

 floods, necessarily certifies to the rather obscure nature and understanding 

 of them. 



