1881 .] 
283 
[Putnam. 
Mr. F. W. Putman offered a few remarks about a recent visit 
he had made to the Mammoth Cave, calling attention particularly 
to some recent discoveries of pits and chambers. In one of the 
latter, which had been named after him, he noticed that many 
fragments of stalactites and small pieces from the walls of the 
cave, which had fallen into a little pool, were worn round and 
smooth by constant attrition, occasioned by the dropping of 
water from the high ceiling of the chamber. He exhibited a hand- 
ful of these fragments which had the appearance of small beach 
pebbles. Should the water cease to drip in this place, as in time 
it probably will, and that in the pool evaporate, leaving the lime 
to crystalize about these small pebbles, a conglomerate would be 
formed which would have some resemblance to oolitic limestone 
pebbles of which occurred in the pool, probably derived from 
fragments detached from the walls of the chamber. He also 
called attention to the formation of “cave pearls” which he had 
found in Grand Avenue Cave some years ago, and stated that 
should such a mass of small pearl-like lime concretions as found 
in the last named cave ever be cemented together the resem- 
blance to oolite would be very marked. While he did not wish 
to be understood as stating that the oolitic limestone was formed 
in this way, he could not help thinking that a rock of similar 
appearance might be locally so produced under the conditions he 
had observed. The beachlike pebbles he had never seen in any 
other place in the Mammoth Cave, nor in any of the many 
caves he had from time to time explored in Kentucky, and he 
did not know of the oolite itself having been found within the 
Mammoth Cave before, although it is an extensive formation in 
some places in that region. 
General Meeting. October 19, 1881. 
The President, Mr. S. II. Scudder, in the chair. Thirty- 
three persons present. 
The following papers were read : 
