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THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS 
—. fC FAUNA * ' 
‘T'HE Wyandotte Cave traverses the St. Louis 
+ Limestone of the Carboniferous formation in Craw- 
ford County, in South-Western Indiana. I do not know 
whether its length has ever been accurately determined, 
t t the proprietors say that they have explored its gal- 
leries for twenty-two miles, and it is probable that its ex- 
tent is equal to that of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. 
Numerous galleries which diverge from its known courses 
in all directions have been left unexplored. 
The Wyandotte Cave is as well worthy of popular 
favour as the Mammoth. It lacks the large bodies of 
water which diversify the scene in the latter, but is fully 
equal to it in the beauty of its stalactites and other orna- 
ments of calcyte and gypsum. The stalactites and sta- 
— 
Fic. 1.—Orconectes inermis Cope, natural size. 
gmites are more numerous than in the Mammoth, and 
former frequently have a worn, or maccaroni-like 
form, which is very peculiar. They twist and wind in 
masses like the locks of Medusa, and often extend in 
slender runners to a remarkable length. The gypsum 
tosettes occur in the remote regions of the cave, and are 
very beautiful. There are also masses of amorphous 
gypsum of much purity. The floor in many places is 
‘covered with curved branches, and, what is more beauti- 
ful, of perfectly transparent acicular crystals, sometimes 
mingled with imperfect twin-crystals. The loose crystals 
in one place are in such quantity as to give the name of 
“Snow Banks” to it. In other places it takes the form 
of japanning on the roof and wall rock. 
_ In one respect the cave is superior to the Mammoth— 
n its vast rooms, with step-like domes, and often huge 
stalagmites on central hills, In these localities the rock 
Shey from the American Naturalist, to the kindness of the editor 
y journal we are also indebted for the loan of the cuts. 
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_ NATURE 
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has been originally more fractured or fragile than else- 
where, and has given way at times of disturbance, piling 
masses on the floor. The destruction having reached the 
thin-bedded strata above, the breaking down has pro- 
ceeded with greater rapidity, each bed breaking away 
over a narrower area than that below it. When the 
heavily-bedded rock has been again reached, the breakage 
has ceased, and the stratum remains as a heavy coping 
stone to the hollow dome. Of course the process piles a 
hill beneath, and the access of water being rendered more 
ec WG 
Fic. 2. Fic. 3. 
Cacidotea microcephala Cope.—Fig. 2: The mandible and palpi of right 
side more enlarged. The outer palpus lies above the lateral plate, and 
its origin was not seen. Fig. 3: The same; magnified 6'5 times. 
easy by the approach to the surface, great stalactites and 
stalagmites are the result. In one place this product 
forms a mass extending from floor to ceiling, a distance 
of thirty or forty feet, with a diameter of twenty-five feet, 
eal 
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Fic. 4.—Cauloxenus styeius in position on the lip of Amdlyopsis spelaus, 
enlarged. 
and a beautifully fluted circumference. The walls of the 
room are encrusted with cataract-like masses, and stalag- 
mites are numerous. The largest room is stated to be 
245 feet high, and 350 feet long, and to contain a hill of 
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Fic. 5. Fic. 6. 
Cauloxenus stygius.—Fig. 5: Antennal processes and muzzle more enlarged. 
fig. 6: The animal viewed from below, with an infero-lateral view of 
the cephalothorag, 
175 feet in height. On the summit are three large stalag- 
mites, one of them pure white. When this scene is lit up 
it is peculiarly grand to the eye of an observer at the foot 
of the long hill, while it is not less beautiful to those on 
Fic. 7. Fic. 8. 
Erebomaster flavescens.—Fig. 7: Male organ from below. Fig. 8: The 
same ; magnified 7°6 times. 
the summit. There is no room in the Mammoth Cave 
equal to these two. 
An examination into the life of the cave shows it to 
have much resemblance to that of the Mammoth, The 
following is a list of sixteen species of animals which I 
obtained, and by its side is placed a corresponding list of 
the species obtained by Mr. Cooke and others, at the 
Mammoth Cave. These number seventeen species. As 
the Mammoth has been more frequently explored, while 
two days only were devoted to the Wyandotte, the large 
