October 7, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



469 



western declivity of the Cevennes Moun- 

 tains, are known as the Region of the 

 Gausses. The term ' causse ' is derived 

 from the Latin word calx, meaning lime- 

 stone. Some of the finest roads in Europe 

 run along the plateaus, and occasionally 

 descend into the valleys. But the author's 

 exploration, here noted, led by E. A. Mar- 

 tel, of Paris, left all beaten paths at the 

 village of St. Enimie, launched in canoes, 

 and followed the winding gorges of the 

 Tarn for 46 miles, and then, by mules or 

 in carriages, explored the gorges of the 

 Jont6 and Durbais. The Gausses vary in 

 height from 1,000 to 5,000 feet above the 

 sea, and these gorges are cut through them 

 somewhat as the Grand Canyon of the Golo- 

 rado cuts through the plateaus of Arizona. 

 The cliffs of the river Tarn are often from 

 1,000 to 2,000 feet high, and occasionally 

 still higher, and are brilliantly colored. 



The caverns of the region are as remark- 

 able as any in Europe. There are hundreds 

 of them, and of all sizes. Among the large 

 caverns explored by this party may be men- 

 tioned those of the Baumes Chaudes, 

 three in number. From one of them the 

 late Dr. Prunieres exhumed 300 prehistoric 

 skeletons, and in another are nine vertical 

 pits from 40 to 127 feet deep. Another 

 <jave destined to become famous is that of 

 Darjelan, with twenty halls from 65 to 600 

 feet long, the lowest of them being 420 feet 

 deep. The author's party discovered and 

 explored the Aven Armand, down whose 

 <!hasm Louis Armand was the first to go. 

 This vertical pit is 240 feet deep, beyond 

 which is another 300 feet deep, the total 

 vertical depth being 600 feet by actual 

 measurement. The descent was made by 

 a series of rope ladders, and was not with- 

 out its dangers. The stalactitic decoration 

 of these caves is remarkably fine. 



The term ' aven ' is applied to what we 

 call a ' sinkhole,' except that the avens 

 seem to pass more abruptly into pits or 



chasms. They pierce the Gausses from the 

 drainage level, and are death-traps for 

 animals whose remains were found below 

 in various stages of decomposition and 

 whose bones lie imbedded in the dripstone. 

 The theory is that every aven has a passage- 

 way to the rivers of the region. That this 

 is often so is proved by the great springs at 

 the base of the cliffs of the Tarn ; but in 

 some cases the subterranean passages trend 

 away from the streams instead of toward 

 them, and often they are dry, showing that 

 the drainage must have been at some 

 remotely ancient period. 



Should it be asked why the wonderful Ee- 

 gion of the Gausses has so long escaped 

 exploration amid a country of high an- 

 tiquity, the answer is that these lofty 

 plateaus are barren solitudes, except for the 

 chalets of wandering shepherds. The gorges 

 and avens have been objects of dread in- 

 stead of places attracting visitors. The 

 superstitions of the peasants have also 

 operated to make them shun what a few 

 tourists now delight to explore. Under the 

 stimulus of the Societe de Speleologie, the 

 region is being opened to the public, and it 

 is destined to be resorted to by thousands 

 of tourists when its interesting features be- 

 come more widely known. 



8. The Washington lAmestone in Vermont. 

 By G. H. Richardson, Hanover, N". H. 

 This name is proposed by the author for 

 the more calcareous member of the Gal- 

 ciferous mica schist of Professor G. H. 

 Hitchcock. It is for the most part a very 

 dark silicious rock, the color of which is 

 due to finely disseminated carbon. This 

 formation, varying from 2,000 to 5,800 feet 

 in thickness, extends from south to north 

 through Vermont ; but its most important 

 development, economically, is in the town- 

 ships of Washington and Topsham, Orange 

 county, where, within the past five years, 

 numerous valuable marble quarries have 

 been opened in it. The chemical compo- 



