CAVES 117 



The northwest corner of the hall contains a display of caves and cave 

 material including a reproduction of part of a beautiful cave that was 

 Caves discovered early in 1910 in mining operations at the Copper 

 Queen mine. The cave was formed by the dissolving- 

 action of water traversing joints in limestone, and its walls, roof 

 and bottom were afterward coated with calcite (calc spar) incrustations, 

 stalactites and stalagmites, some of which are dazzling white while 

 others are colored green with copper salts or pink with manganese 

 compounds. 



Alongside the Copper Queen cave is a reproduction of a chamber in 

 Weyer's Cave, Virginia. Weyer's Cave is in a region of much heavier 

 rainfall than Bisbee, which is probably the principal factor in producing 

 a greater wealth of regular stalactite and stalagmite growth than adorns 

 the Copper Queen cave, and this exhibit illustrates not only the great 

 variety in form but the reasons for this extraordinary diversity. 



Among the cave material shown nearby is a series of tumblers into 

 which water from the stalactites was allowed to drip for stated periods, 

 the thickness of the deposit giving some measure of the length of time 

 necessary for the formation of stalactites and stalagmites. 



Particularly attractive are the marvelously beautiful specimens 

 of calcite, aragonite and gypsum from the famous silver-and-lead mines 

 Chihuahua near Santa Eulalia in the vicinity of Chihuahua, Mexico. 

 Cave Material These specimens are remarkable for the perfection of 

 their crystalline form or the delicacy of their fibrous developments and 

 for their colors. 



Return to the Hall of Mastodons and Mammoths and turning 

 to the right enter the West Corridor or Gem Hall. 



