CHAP LE a Fy: 
THE FORMATION OF THE CAVE, AND ITS CONNECTION WITH 
GREEN RIVER. 
BEForE entering the Cave, it will be proper 
for us to consider the agencies concerned in its 
formation. These may be divided into chemical 
and mechanical. We strictly follow the words 
of Dr. Wright in these explanations, knowing 
that his education in this particular, and his op- 
portunities for observation, eminently qualify 
him for giving correct views on the subject. 
Of the chemical agencies, which were un- 
doubtedly the most remarkable and important, 
he says, “There can be no doubt but that the 
solvent action of water holding carbonic acid in 
solution was the primary agency concerned in_ 
the formation of the Cave. Thus the limestone, 
or carbonate of lime, which constitutes the strata 
of rock through which the Cave runs, is not sol- 
uble in water until it combines with an addi- 
tional proportion of carbonic acid, by which it is 
transformed into the bicarbonate of lime. In this 
(48) 
