6o 



THE MUSEUM. 



danger of further breaking the speci- 

 men, so the exact nature of the nu- 

 cleus cannot be determined. But it is 

 seen to be Hght-colored, somewhat 

 translucent; is slightly pliant and re- 

 sembles a stout bristle. 



Mr. Van Home has since experi- 

 mented on another of these cylindrical 

 bodies from Mitchell's and found its 

 nucleus a tiny twig, very brittle, un- 

 like the pliant nucleus of the e.xample 

 figured. These calcite cylinders have 

 been formed in like manner with the 

 cave-pearls. Water charged with 

 lime falls drop by drop upon the tiny 

 nucleus causing it to turn in its bed as 

 its coating of spar grows larger and 

 thicker thus slowly building up a de- 

 posit of uniform thickness from the 

 center outwards. The result is a cyl- 

 indrical body with neatly rounded 

 ends whose length slightly exceeds 

 that of its nucleus. The exterior of 

 the specimen figured is of a wax-like 

 whiteness and bears a beautiful polish. 



The next and last object to be de- 

 scribed in this connection is the pecul- 

 iar trumpet or pipe-shaped stalactite of 

 which a figure is shown. It was pro- 

 cured by Mr. Van Home from a level, 

 horizontal roof of the cave. 



This odd-shaped pendant has been 

 undoubtedly thus formed by a strong 

 current of air swerving the trickling 

 drops of water far to one side. It 

 has a history of its own, as well as a 

 prospective name, and should not be 

 confounded with the helictites, which 

 are twig-like lateral projections of cal- 

 cium carbonate formed by a capillary 

 movement of the lime-charged water 

 and of which examples have been no- 

 ticed in Mitchell's Cave. 



At the entrance to nearly all cav- 

 erns of any considerable size a notice- 

 able current of air can be felt blowing 

 from the interior of the cave. Espec- 

 ially is this true in the summer season. 

 In the winter time the process is re- 

 versed a current of cold air drawing 

 inwards. This has been found true 

 with some very few exceptions. Cer- 

 tain caves in Kentucky, among them 



Salt's Cave, discharge a constant blast 

 of air the year round. But it is not 

 with those portal blasts that we have 

 to deal in accounting for our curious- 

 ly-bent stalactite. 



In the interior of our larger caverns 

 a perfect calm apparently reigns su- 

 preme. Nevertheless a quiet circula- 

 tion of air between the different levels 

 of the cave is continually taking place, 

 and now and then we shall find a situ- 

 ation where, by reason of certain pe- 

 culiar forms of the chambers and 

 passages, a very strong current is pass- 

 ing. Certain constricted portions of a 

 passage may even give rise to a pow- 

 erful blast which may be a constant 

 feature of such a situation during sev- 

 eral months of the year. 



A long and exceedingly crooked 

 passage leading laterally from the 

 main avenue of a well-known cave 

 at the Helderberg Mountains ends in a 

 neat cul-dc-sac. Here we find an 

 opening of about eight inches in diam- 

 eter from which issues a blast almost 

 like that from a blacksmith's bellows.* 

 Given such conditions, — they can oc- 

 casionally be found — a moderate blast 

 and the proper distillation of lime- 

 charged water, and we have all the 

 necessary conditions for the formation 

 of just such oddities in calcite as that 

 figured and for which I shall propose 

 the name "blasanite," from the Anglo- 

 Saxon "blsesan" to blow. I am fully 

 aware that in this term, being a com- 

 pound from two tongues, I have pre- 

 sented a barbarism according to strict 

 scientific nomenclature, but I contend 

 it is fit for the object to which applied, 

 and otherwise far better than some of 

 the uncouth jaw-twisting Helenic deri- 

 vatives in use. 



No records of an}' actual measure- 

 ments of the vertical depth of Mitch- 



* This curious phenomenon can only be 

 explained by suggesting that here exists a 

 point of communication between the known 

 cave and some greater unknown and unex- 

 plored portion. Or that it is a channel of 

 communication with another cave whose en- 

 trance is but a short distance from that of the. 

 tirst. 



