154 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
The Star Chamber is situated in the Main 
Cave, which leads off to the left, as you enter, 
at the Giant’s Coffin, as before mentioned. It 
is sixty feet in height, seventy in width, and 
about five hundred in length. The ceiling is 
composed of black gypsum, and is studded with 
innumerable white points, which, by a dim light, 
present a most striking resemblance to stars. 
These points, or stars, are produced, in part, by 
an efflorescence of Glauber’s salts beneath the 
black gypsum, which causes it to scale off, and 
in part by throwing stones against it, by which 
it is detached from the white limestone. In the 
far extremity of the chamber a large mass has 
been separated, by which a white surface is ex- 
posed, termed the Comet. 
We give below the observations and remarks 
of Bayard Taylor on approaching the Star 
Chamber, and his impressions upon witnessing 
it. He says: 
‘““We passed several stone and frame houses, 
some of which were partly in ruin. The guide 
pointed them out as the residence of a number 
of consumptive patients, who came here in Sep- 
tember, 1843, and remained until January. ‘I 
was one of the waiters who attended upon 
them,’ said Alfred. ‘I used to stand on that 
