MAMMOTH 



3616 



MAMMOTH CAVE 



Consult Osborn's Age of Mammals in Europe, 

 Asia and North America; Stone and Cram's 

 American Animals. 



Related Subjects. The mammals which are 

 described in these volumes are listed under their 

 various orders. Thus all the hoofed animals are 

 indexed under UNGULATES., all the pouched ani- 

 mals under MARSUPIALS, and so on. The reader 

 who wishes to make a special study of the mam- 

 mals has but to consult the following articles : 

 Carnivorous Animals Primates 

 Cetacea Rodents 



Edentata Ungulates 



Marsupials 



The following 1 articles, which cannot be classi- 

 fied under the above headings, may also be con- 

 sulted : 



Bat Seal 



Duck-billed Platypus Shrew 

 Hedgehog Walrus 



Mole 



MAMMOTH, mam'oth, the best known of 

 the fossil elephants, characteristic of the gla- 

 cial and postglacial periods. In general form 

 and structure it differs little from the existing 

 Asiatic elephant. Numerous mammoth skele- 



THE MAMMOTH 



From the bones of the animal and other re- 

 mains which have been found scientists believe 

 the above to be a fairly accurate representation 

 of the prehistoric beast. 



tons have been unearthed in North Siberia and 

 on the Arctic coasts, and they have been found 

 in smaller numbers in Europe and in the United 

 States. Some of the remains found in the Arc- 

 tic regions have been so perfectly preserved in 

 the frozen soil as to furnish food for the na- 

 tives. From them we have learned the gen- 

 eral appearance and proportions of the animal; 

 it was not so large as is generally supposed, the 

 average size not exceeding that of the present- 

 day elephant. The tusks were long and curved, 

 sometimes spiral, and the hair was heavy and 

 dark brown, and in these respects it possessed 

 characteristics peculiar to itself. One of the 

 largest specimens has been preserved by the 

 Chicago Academy of Sciences. 



MAMMOTH CAVE. Down in a wild and 

 rocky ravine of the forests in Kentucky, about 

 ninety miles south of Louisville, is a natural 

 arched entrance, seventy feet wide, into a vast 

 underground world, whose winding passages 

 lead into many beautiful chambers with dome- 

 shaped roofs. This huge cavern, known as 

 Mammoth Cave, is the largest of its kind in 

 the world; one may travel over 150 miles 

 through its numerous passageways. 



Rain water, laden with carbonic acid from the 

 soil and air, has gradually carved out this won- 

 derful cavern from hard rock by dissolving the 

 limestone and leaving the firmer rocks. Dur- 

 ing the ages this water, seeping down through 

 many layers, has formed Echo River, an under- 

 ground stream over three-quarters of a mile 

 long, which empties into Green River. Upon 

 this stream, lying in River Hall, 360 feet below 

 the earth's surface, travelers can board flatboats 

 and be paddled along beneath an arched roof 

 of rare beauty. If one should look down into 

 the clear water at the side of the boat he might 

 see small, white fish darting rapidly about. 

 Other weird creatures, such as small crayfish, 

 wingless grasshoppers, brown beetles and white 

 spiders are found in the damp, lower parts of 

 the cave, but a strange thing about all of them 

 is that they are blind; living in the darkness 

 they have no use for eyes, and Nature does not 

 continue the gift of unused organs. In the 

 winter thousands of bats seek the friendly 

 shelter of the cave, hanging by their feet until 

 spring, but even in summer many of them may 

 be seen flying around the roof. 



Ownership. According to local tradition the 

 cave was discovered in 1809 by a hunter named 

 Hutchins; it came into prominence during the 

 War of 1812, when it supplied large quantities 

 of saltpeter used in making powder. Some of 

 the old vats used at that time may still be 

 seen near the entrance. After being bought 

 and sold by various people for its saltpeter de- 

 posits, one of the owners finally made the cave 

 a place of exhibition to the public. In 1837, 

 when guides began to conduct occasional visit- 

 ors, there were so many unusual discoveries 

 that the wonders of the cave attracted atten- 

 tion not only throughout America, but also in 

 Europe. A young physician of Louisville, Dr. 

 John Croghan, became so charmed with its 

 beauty that he bought it in 1839 and subse- 

 quently spent large sums in its development. 

 In 1916 a very old man was the only surviving 

 heir; there is a movement on foot to make the 

 whole region, at his death, into a national park. 



