The Encyclopedia britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literatureWith new maps, and original American articles by eminent writersWith American revisions and additions, bringing each volume up to date . called *thc Maelstrom, in CroghanV Hall, ia thaspot most remote from the mouth of the cave ; a son of Prentice,the poet, permitted himself to be lowered 190 feet by a rope to thebottom, in 1859. There are some fine stalactites near this pit, andothers in the Fairy Grotto and in Pensico Avenue ; but, consider-ing the magnitude of Mammoth Cave, its poverty of stalactiticornamenta
The Encyclopedia britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literatureWith new maps, and original American articles by eminent writersWith American revisions and additions, bringing each volume up to date . called *thc Maelstrom, in CroghanV Hall, ia thaspot most remote from the mouth of the cave ; a son of Prentice,the poet, permitted himself to be lowered 190 feet by a rope to thebottom, in 1859. There are some fine stalactites near this pit, andothers in the Fairy Grotto and in Pensico Avenue ; but, consider-ing the magnitude of Mammoth Cave, its poverty of stalactiticornamentation is remarkable. The wealth of crystals ia, however,surprising. These are of endless variety and fantastic the sparkling vaiJt of the Star Chamber (300 feet long and80 high), there are halls canopied by fleecy clouds, or studded withmimic snowballs, and others displaying vaiious grotesque resem-blances on the walls and ceiling. Clevelands Cabinet and Marions Avenue, each a mile long, areadorned by myriads of gjpsum rosettes and curiously twistedcrystals, called oulopholites. These cave flowers are unfoldedby pressure, as if a sheaf were forced through a tight binding, and MAP OF THE MMOTH CAVE,. the crystal fibres curl outward from the centre of the group. Thusspotless arches of 50 feet span are embellished by floral clusters andgarlands, hiding nearly every foot of the grey limestone. Thebotryoidal formations hanging by thousands in Marys Vineyardresemble mimic clusters of grapes, as the oulopholites resembleroses. Again there are chambers with drifts of snowy crystals ofthe sulphate of magnesia, the ceilings so thickly covered with theirefflorescence that a loud concussion of the air wUl cause them to falllike the flakes of a snow storm. Many small rooms and tortuous paths, where nothing of specialinttrest can be found, are avoided as much as possible on theregular routes ; but certain disagreeable experiences are is peril also in the vicini
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbaynesth, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1892
