394 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



forty-five degrees and is some sixty feet in length. An 

 upright door secured by a lock opens into a cemented arch 

 covering the stairway. Lanterns and torches are used to 

 light up the Crimean darkness. On the sides of the stairs 

 one finds cave crickets, hadaenuci subterranei, which are 

 colorless and blind. The temperature of the Cave is 

 noticeable especially on a hot day, remaining the same 

 summer and winter, namely fifty-six degrees Fahrenheit. 



The interior consists of avenues, chambers, domes, and 

 grottoes. Most of the walls, floors and ceilings are of 

 limestone ornamented with formations in grotesque 

 shapes. The floor of the greater portion of the Cave is 

 dry ; but where the most of the limestone formations are 

 taking place, it is damp. At the foot of the stairs 

 is Grand Entrance Hall, which leads into the por- 

 tion of the Cave known as the Long Route. There 

 are four grand divisions of the Cave called respect- 

 ively, The Long Route, Washington Avenue, Western 

 Avenue, and Crystal Palace. A picture cannot 

 do justice to Crystal Palace with its stalactites and sta- 

 lagmites. One must see it to appreciate it. Tourists 

 consider it "the most beautiful of any natural under- 

 ground room that has ever been discovered." Crystal 

 Palace is about twenty feet wide, forty feet high, 

 and two hundred feet long. The whole Cave varies 

 in width from ten to seventy-five feet, in height from 

 eight to forty feet, and the total length of the chambers 

 and passages is about three and one-half miles. 



The four divisions of the Cave are subdivided into halls 

 which have been named, usually by visitors, for their 

 resemblance to the original : Statue Hall, Congress Hall, 

 Odd Fellows Hall, Mammoth Hall, Music Hall, and 

 Elks Hall. Many of the beautiful formations have 

 also been given names. The Vault in Cave Hill 

 Cemetery is an interesting example. Others are 

 Charleston Jail, Prison Cell, Statue of Liberty, Tower 

 of Babel, Baby Elephant, Jumbo, Elephant's Head, 

 Diamond Dome, Leopard Ceiling, The Gods of 

 Athens, Solomon's Temple, Fish Market, Lovers' Re- 

 treat, Niagara Falls, and Mt. Vesuvius. The Railroad 

 Crossing is a strange formation on the ceiling, consist- 



