8 FORMATION OF THE CAVE. 



than two hundred and fifty feet, a cascade falls from a great height, 

 and keeps the entire surface of the rocks covered with dripping 

 water. This, falling into a deep pit below, finds an exit through 

 which it bears away a portion of the lime composing the rock. 

 After a walk of thirteen hours, our guide informed us that he would 

 conduct us to the- Mammoth Dome if we felt able to bear the 

 fatigue of the journey. Foot-sore and weary, we were not in a 

 favorable condition for so arduous an undertaking, but Mr. Thomas 

 Kite of Cincinnati, who had visited the locality thirty years ago, 

 urged us to go, and told us the sight of this Dome was worth all 

 the rest. Provided with magnesium and calcium lights, we crawled 

 and climbed our way to the brink of the pit, the bottom of which 

 was reached by a rickety ladder, slippery and dripping with water. 

 A portion of the party descended, and when all were ready the 

 lights were ignited, and the immense dome was revealed to us in 

 all its majestic beauty. Upon our return, three hearty cheers were 

 given to the good friend at whose earnest solicitation we under- 

 took this part of our journey. 



We are indebted to Professor Alexander Winchell. of the Unir 

 versity of Michigan, for the following abstract of his views con- 

 cerning the formation of the cave. 



' The country of the Mammoth Cave was probably dry land at 

 the close of the coal period, and has remained such, with certain 

 exceptions, through the Mesozoic and Csenozoic ages, and to the 

 present. In Mesozoic times, fissures existed in the formation, 

 and surface waters found their way through them, dissolving the 

 limestone and continually enlarging the spaces. A cave of con- 

 siderable dimensions probably existed during the prevalence of the 

 continental glaciers over the northern hemisphere. On the dis- 

 solution of the glaciers, the flood of water which swept over the 

 entire country, transporting the materials which constituted the 

 modified drift, swept through the passages of the cave, enlarging 

 them, and leaving deposited in the cave, some of the same quart- 

 zose pebbles which characterize the surface deposits from Lake Su- 

 perior to the Gulf of Mexico. Since the subsidence of the waters 

 of the Champlain epoch, the cave has probably undergone compar- 

 atively few changes. The well one hundred and ninety-eight feet 

 deep, at the further end of the cave, shows where a considerable 

 volume of the excavatory waters found exit. The Mammoth Dome 

 indicates probably, both a place of exit and a place of entrance 

 from above. So of the vertical passages in various other portions 

 of the cave.' 



We believe that the views of Professor Winchell are in harmony 

 with those of the other eminent geologists of the party, and when 

 it is considered that the geologists of this excursion stand in the 

 front rank of the most eminent scientific men of the world, their 

 views upon this interesting subject are well Avorthy of attention. 

 Before dismissing this branch of the subject, we will take occasion 



