VIII.] COMPOSITION OF NATURAL WATERS. 



12^ 



represents a cavity, described by Professor Boyd Dawkins 

 as the Fairy Chamber, in a limestone cavern on the isle of 

 Caldy opposite to Tenby in Pembrokeshire.^ In the forma- 

 tion and decoration of such caves, water is the main agent 

 from beginning to end. Finding its way through the cracks 



Fig. 31. — csialactites and bCaldgjuiidb, Ible of Caldy. 



and crannies of the solid rock, it first eats away the lime- 

 stone so as to form the cavity, and then bedecks the roof, 

 the floor, and the walls, with calcareous deposits of most 

 fantastic shapes. Even without going into a limestone 



' Cave Hunting. By W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S. P. 64. 

 1874. 



