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MEMOIRS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 7 
have united in one tunnel. Following the left branch for a few yards a hall is found, in the floor of which is a pit 
175 feet deep. The corresponding dome overhead is scarcely noticeable as such, for the surface of the ground is not 
more than 30 or 40 feet distant. The end of the Long Route has been reached. 
In returning the passage through Fat Man’s Misery is avoided, and nearly 2 miles of walking are saved by 
climbing through a very steep, narrow, winding Corkscrew pass (i, Fig. 2), starting from the neighborhood of 
Great Relief and terminating at the side of the Great Rotunda. The vertical ascent is about 140 feet. To even 
stout-hearted mountaineers, if stout-bodied also, this Corkscrew is an intensified Fat Man’s Misery, and upon them 
it rarely fails to leave strong and deep impressions, which may be of more kinds than one. 
Dr. Newberry remarked on the geology of the region adjacent to the Mammoth Cave: 
“ The limestone beds of this high table-land are jointed in the manner common to rocks, apparently by some sort 
of polarization, producing fissures which run in a north and south and an east and west direction. The plateau is 
about 500 feet above the drainage, part of the drainage passing in to the Green River and part into the Ohio. No streams 
occur on the surface, and the drainage is quite gradual. At the angle between these two rivers several streams are 
seen bursting out of the cliffs at various heights above the Ohio; they are, so to speak, subterranean sewers, repre¬ 
senting the underground drainage of the country; at one point three such streams pouring out of the rock form 
very beautiful cascades; and near Sandusky a full-grown river flows out of the cliff of cavernous limestone. The 
beds consist of Lower Carboniferous limestone, with sandy layers beneath. In the vicinity occur portions of the 
great ‘blue-grass region,’ one of the oldest parts of the continent, once an extensive highland, forming an island 
in the sea. Around this rims of sediment were deposited, consisting of sandstones and limestones; while, on the 
other hand, the continuous process of erosion during the lapse of a vast period removed the material of the table-land 
within, and converted it into a broad depression or basin, the ‘blue grass region,’ above which the present plateau 
of the encircling sediments now rises to a height of 500 feet. 
‘ ‘ The erosion of the joints in this plateau has resulted in the formation of the pits described by Mr. Stevens, but it 
is probable that some of these may reach 200 or 300 feet below the Ohio and Green rivers. There is evidence, from 
borings in the Delta of the Mississippi, etc., that the continent was formerly more elevated, standing 500 to 600 feet 
higher at New Orleans than at present; the drainage was much freer, the Mississippi being a free-flowing stream as 
well as the Ohio and other tributaries. Borings have been sunk in the present trough of the Ohio River to a depth of 
over 100 feet below its present bottom without reaching the true bottom of the trough, the ancient bed of the river, 
which is perhaps 100 to 200 feet farther down.” 
The hydrography of Mammoth Cave may be understood by reference to the shaded portion of 
the passages in the cave now filled with water or containing pools. 
Soon after entering the main cave one passes on the left a miniature cascade, which runs or 
drips down into a basin called Wandering Willie’s Spring, situated between the Standing Rocks 
and the Grand Arch. This rill probably comes more or less directly from the surface of the soil 
above; and from the rill, as well as the pool, I took the water containing several species of infusoria, 
while the pool was tenanted by the Crangonyx. It is possible, however, that the rill arises from 
the collection of pools in the Labyrinth. Still farther on is Richardson’s Spring, not men¬ 
tioned in ]\^. Hovey’s book; it is situated near Star Chamber, and in the pool, under stones, lives 
the white eyeless Planarian worm, Dendroccelum perccecum, while in the damp soil around and 
under the stones were found beetles, Podurids, mites, and Myriopods. 
Another locality where the animals are in greatest abundance is the Labyrinth, in which is a 
pool 12 feet deep. Near this is a brook, which we have called Shaler’s Brook. It abounds, in the 
white eyeless Planarian worms, usually occurring on the under side of the pebbles in the bottom, 
while a species of Chironomus and Crangonyx live in its waters. Near by is the Devil’s Cooling 
Tub. It was noticed here, as well as in other wet or watered localities, that no animals occurred 
in the dry portions of the cave. Dampness or some degree of moisture is essential to their existence. 
The cray fish and blind fish for the most part, if not exclusively so, live in the River Styx and 
the Dead Sea. The most accurate account of this region of the cave is that given by Mr. Hovey: 
On entering River Hall we followed a path skirting the edge of cliffs 60 feet high and 100 feet long, embracing the 
sullen waters to which the name of Dead Sea is given. Descending a flight of steps we came to a cascade, but a 
little farther on, by some conjectured to be a re-appearance of the waterfall at the entrance of the cave, it precipitates 
itself into a funnel-shaped hollow in a massive mud-bank. On another visit, in 1881, we found a natural bed of 
mushrooms growing here, a species of Agaricns, that has suggested the idea of a mushroom farm, similar to those at 
Frdpilon and Mdry, in France, whence many thousands of bushels are sent to market annually. 
The estimated length of the Styx is 400 feet and its breadth about 40 feet. It was formerly crossed by boat before 
the discovery of the Natural Bridge, whence Mat’s party are hailing us with invitations to join their number and go on. 
Lake Lethe comes next; a body of water about as large as the Styx, and, like it, once crossed only by boat. It is 
now lower than formerly, being slowly filled with mud, and a narrow path runs along its margin, at the foot of cliffs 
90 feet high, leading to a pontoon at the neck of the lake. Crossing this, we step upon a beach of the finest yellow 
sand. This is the Great Walk, extending to Echo River, a distance of 500 yards, under a lofty ceiling mottled with 
