1 882. 37 Tra7is. N. V. Ac. Set. 



Island of Capri, where the walls, the stalactites and every object is 

 tinted blue by the rays reflected from the brilliant skies of Italy. 



Fingal's Cave, and others in the basaltic district around the Island 

 of Staffa, may probably be ascribed to a combination of causes, of 

 which oceanic violence was but one. The broken ends of columns, 

 above which rise lofty ranges of those that are entire, the plash of the 

 waves, the play of colors in the soft twilight that tills the cave, and the 

 tall gothic archway with its archaeological suggestions, have been re- 

 peatedly described. 



Probably the most exquisite grottoes in the world are the ice-caves 

 occasionally formed in the heart of glaciers, and also, in severe winters, 

 under great cataracts, such as Niagara Falls. 



Beauty of a far different sort characterizes some of the caves in tropi- 

 cal regions ; for example, that of Cacahuamilpa in Mexico, and the cave 

 of the Guacharo, in South America. You enter the abyss through a 

 luxuriant grove, and find the vegetation continuing far under ground. 

 Pale plants lift their blanched stalks amid sparry growths, while the 

 oil-birds flit through the mazes of subterranean shrubs and vines. 



Some of the most noted caverns are hardly worth describing so far 

 as their scenery is concerned ; for the reason that their fame is due to 

 the quantities of old bones that encumber the floor and lie buried in the 

 dripstone. Of these the cave of Gailenreuth, whence were exhumed 

 the remains of 800 gigantic bears, may serve as a specimen. 



Contiasted with bone caves is the elaborate temple-cave of Ela- 

 phanta, whose chambers of imagery are guarded by colossal figures. 

 The views exhibited of this cavern were taken a few months ago for the 

 Rev. Joseph Cook, by whose permission lantern-slides have been pre- 

 pared for this occasion. 



As has often been remarked, marine caves are usually of little depth. 

 "Along the whole Atlantic coast", observes Prof. N. S. Shaler, "from 

 Nova Scotia to Mexico, I do not know of a single cavern deep enough 

 to give darkness, and above the present level of the sea. The exis- 

 tence of deep caverns is a sign that the region has long been above 

 the sea." 



Hence, he who would explore those vast labyrinths, where one may 

 wander on for miles, must forsake the sea-board for the interior. 



One reason for this is purely lithological. The rocks along the At- 

 lantic sea-coast are usually quite heterogeneous, and are split by fis- 

 sures and crossed by veins, so that a cave could not extend very far into 

 them, without destroying itself. This, indeed, is sometimes done in re- 

 gions remote from the sea. An instance may be Seen at Madison, In- 

 diana, where thin strata of the Lower Silurian are overlaid by thick 

 strata of the Upper. Grottoes are here washed out by the removal ot 



