COLUMBUS, the capital of the state of Ohio, North America, stands on the E. side of the Scioto, immediately below the influx of the Whetstone, 110 miles N.E. of Cincinnati. The town is well laid out, the streets crossing each other at right angles; the private dwellings are generally neat and substantial, and many of them elegant. The old state-house was destroyed by fire in 1852, and a great number of historical documents of the state were irretrievably lost. The new state-house is a magnificent building, 304 feet long and 184 feet wide, covering an area of 55,936 square feet. The first floor contains 28 fire-proof rooms for the public offices, and the second floor contains the hall of representatives, 84 feet long and 72½ feet wide; the senate chamber, 72½ by 56 feet, the library, court-room, and 26 committee-rooms. The state penitentiary is an elegant edifice of hewn limestone, the centre being 56 feet long and four stories high, and the two wings each 200 feet long and three stories high. There are also asylums for the insane, the deaf and dumb, and the blind; several colleges, and numerous schools and churches. Columbus is the seat of numerous and extensive manufactures, and a place of considerable trade. Its population had risen from 6048 in 1840 to 17,883 in 1850.