16 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



rays of liaht from the lamps strike these surfaces I 

 Ihe walls and roof present the most hrilliani, hean- 

 tiful, fxrand and suhlime appearance imauinable. ; 

 The shininor sides of milhons of the beautil'ul 

 crystals, reflecii.ifj, and re-rL'fieciinj]^ the liifhl, 

 and their little puinis litce distant stars in lite fir- 

 mament, twinkling and shininir as if trying to i 

 outdo each oilier, present to the view of ihe as- 

 tonit^hed and enrai)iured beholder the rich beauties j 

 of the harmonies of nature in all their firandeur | 

 and maffiiificencc. Here, in a vast hall, in one of | 

 nature's migliiy subterranean mansion?!, eleven 

 miles from ihe li^lit oi' day, in soft and solemn 

 silence, stands the astonished beholder wrapt in 

 admiraiion, — in wonder, in asioniehment. On 

 every side, he beholds naiure in ali her maornifi- 

 cence, bi-auiy, harmony and order; every move- 

 ment of the lamp^ preseiUs to his view new 

 teflectinif surlacfs, ihat seem as if alive, vvelcom- 

 iii<' and enjoying as with enra[)iured ecstacies ihe 

 rare visit of the rays of terrestrial light. Wliere is 

 the human beiniz who could stand unmoved in 

 such a place? Impossible! Admiration, con- 

 templation, medilaiion, and adoration will fill his 

 soul, and he will, as it were, involuntarily and 

 spontaneously otter up to the adorable and al- 

 mighty Crea'or of the heavens, the homage of 

 adoration and the tribute of praise. 



Here, every crystal has its own peculiar shape ; 

 nature knows no variation in Ihe laws of cry- 

 etall'zation ; every variety preserves its own pecu- 

 liar order and (orm. To the learned geologist, my 

 description will not be deetned lanciful ; he can 

 easily picture to himself the effect of the rays of 

 terrestrial, moving light, thrown upon the surface 

 of crystallized walls, in a dark apartment of great 

 height and extent. AVhat a place ihis for coniem- 

 planon and meditation ;—iheslillness, the silence o(_ 

 midnight, yes, and ten times more— the stillness of 

 silence— yet surrounded by ten thousand times ten 

 thousand living lights, changing with every breath 

 thai moves the hand which holds the lamp, the 

 rays of the light of which are thus newly reflecied. 

 Here respiration is easy— the lamps burn bright — 

 here man may enjoy life, even in a subterranean 

 dwelling. Doct. Smith, of New Jersey, who 

 visited this portion of the cave in 1811, thus 

 speaks of its appearance. "Imagine to yourself 

 a superb hall brilliantly illuminated with ten thous- 

 and times ten thousand lamps, with its superb 

 walls irradiated with millions of the richest dia- 

 monds, and you will have but a faint idea ol' its 

 lustre." 



The walls of the cave are generally of an even 

 eurliice. A description of the numerous rooms. 

 apartments, and branches, would swell this article 

 to a great length. I have traversed various por- 

 tions of the cave a great number of times, and at 

 every time found something new and interesting. 

 Some apartments of the cave contain Glauber and 

 Epsom salts in great abundance. These salts are 

 in a crude state, and have been collected and used 

 in lhat section of the country. 



The examination of the cave has developed 

 this fact, viz. : that the temperature is the same at 

 five hundred (eet, as it is at two thousand feet be- 

 low the surface. The members of the Royal 

 Academy of Sciences at Paris have been some 

 years experimenting upon the heat of the interior 

 of the earth, by boring into it to a great distance 

 below its surface, and have expressed the opinion 



that the heat increases as they progress down- 

 wards. In this cave such is not the case, but on 

 the contrary, the temperature is equal and unilorm* 



With respect to water, although the cave is m 

 many places deep, still it is in nearly all its apart- 

 ments perl(3cily dry, that is, in all apartments 

 whicii are protected from surface water produced 

 by rain. The temperature of the cave is so low 

 that no moisture is produced by evaporation. Aa 

 there are numerous apartments beneath the main 

 cave, these ol' course would preserve the upper 

 apaitments dry, unless the heat of the earth in- 

 creased in fliriher progressing downwards, in 

 which case eva[)oration would produce dampness 

 in the upper apartments, as a necessary conse- 

 quence. The quantity ol water whicli fiills upon 

 the surface of the earth in that latitude averages 

 about Ibrly inches per annum. 



The atmosphere of the cave is another subject 

 of great importance, being uniform throughout 

 the year, and perfectly dry, or rather comparative- 

 ly so, — and whatever moi-ture there may be, is 

 attracted by the dry earth which covers its floor, 

 by which ii is absorbed and crystallized. Many 

 of the readers of this article may not be aware 

 that where two crops of sand are placed side and 

 sitle, the one wet, and the other perfectly dry, the 

 dry sand will attract moisture from the wet, until 

 both become equal. 



Meat lelt in the cave twelve hours will become 

 so completely impregnated with nitre that it can- 

 not be eaten — and meat that is slightly tainted, if 

 pl.iced in the cave will be divested of its putrefying 

 properties, and gradually dry and become hard. 

 I have no doubt that in process of time, this cave 

 will be resorted to for the restoration of healtii. 

 A person coul'l, without any inconvenience, travel 

 in the cave five or six hours every day for a suffici- 

 ent length of time to allow the atmosphere to have 

 a powerful eflect upon the animal frame. 



The circumstance that there has never at any 

 time been a single case of sickness among the 

 great number of persons who, lor several years, 

 wrought at this cave, is most conclusive on this 

 point. 



The Mammoth Cave has been, at some very 

 remote period, inhabited. Mr. Miller, the former 

 superintendent of the workmen at the cave, found, 

 in the excavated earth in the cave, a human jaw 

 bone of very large size, which would go eniirely 

 outside of the jaw bone of niost living persons. 

 This jaw bone was kept at the cave several years 

 to show visiters, and is still, probably, somewhere in 

 exis'.ence, as it was in a good state of preservation. 



The cave is visited by several hundred persons 

 annually and the showing of its rooms has now 

 become a source of revenue, the superintendent 

 requiring i^l from each visiter as compensation lor 

 furnishing a guide to show the cave. Formerly, 

 in traversing the cave a great distance, it was 

 requisite for the traveller to mark each corner 

 which he passed, with the figure of an arrow, 

 pointing outward. A full account of this cave 

 would fill a volume. M. 



LARGK HOGS. 



From tlie Kentucl<5' Farmer. 

 November 26, 1840. 

 Sold by Dr. S. D. Martin to H. Savary, mer- 

 chant, at Colbyville, Clarke county, Ky., five hogs 



