168 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



three stalagmites stood like spectral visions surmount- 

 ing the dark and rugged ledges which rose between 

 us and the source of the faint light above. 



Relighting our candles, we found a few feet farther 

 on, the "Sulphur Spring," the trickling waters being 

 caught in a shallow cavity of a round stalagmite. 

 This is one of the dining places of visitors, and from 

 the near-by moldy remains of food were taken numer- 

 ous specimens of a small black fly, Phora mgriccps 

 Loew, as well as several mites, and the common cave 

 "springtail." 



To the left of Sulphur Spring, in the smooth and 

 slippery stalagmite, is an opening thirty inches wide 

 by fifteen inches high. This is the famous "Auger 

 Hole," which, when discovered and enlarged in 1850, 

 admitted the explorers to an extensive area of un- 

 known passages and rooms yet none so grand as 

 those already noted. 



Through this opening we made our way, some head 

 first, others the reverse, all finally landing safely about 

 ten feet below in a damp room known as "Lilliputian 

 Hall," along which, by stooping, we found our way 

 into " Spade's Grotto," once evidently connected with 

 Rothrock's Cathedral by a passage now hidden by 

 fallen rock. From thence, in divers manners, we 

 descended "Slippery Hill" and found ourselves in the 

 "Hall of Ruins," a passage 150 by 30 feet, with an 

 average height of perhaps eighteen feet. This leads 

 into the " White Cloud Room," probably 350 feet in 

 length, where the roof and walls are encrusted with 

 an efflorescence of gypsum, resembling, after a fashion 

 "billows of fleecy clouds." Beyond this room we 



