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 



