The record-union., 1898-06-01
IN MAMMOTH CAVE.
EFFECT OF THE
COOL AND GERMLEsS AIR.
It Is Not Known by What Process
the Atmosphere II Sterilized-
Music In the Caverns.

John r. Proctor formerly State Ge-
ologist of Kentucky, writes of THE
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky for the
Century" the article having many
striking Illustrations by Castaigne. Mr..
Proctor says:
The entrance to Mammoth Cave is
reached by descending picturesque
pathway leading from the hotel down
the hillside over jutting moss and fern
covered limestone cliffs into a beauti
full glen extending from the top of the
hill down TO Green River which is 19f
feet below the mouth of the cave, and
about a half mile distant. If the wea
ther is warm, as we near the entrance
we step into a bracing, cool, pure air,
yelling up from the cave and flowing
down the glen beneath the stratum OF
lighter and warmer air. i have stood
near the entrance, and extended one
hand into temperature of 80 degrees,
while the other hand was extended
into cool flowing river of air with
a temperature of about go degrees. The
air within the cave has a uniform tenn
perature, summer and winter, of 54 de-
grees. The cave may be said to breathe
twice a year-inhaling during the win
ter and eXhaling during the summer.
This breathing Of the cave, and the
purity of the air and it's freedom from
germs, are among the most interesting
problems to be studied. BY what pro-
cess the air in the cave becomes steril-
ized remains to be determined
But our faithful negro guide has
counted the party, selected the requis-
ite number of lamps, and given the
word. and we follow him in single fiie
down the rude stone steps into the YES
tibule of the cave. Turning, we look
up at the beautiful effect of daylight
which we are leaving, and admire the
delicate cascade, falling from the over
hanging arch at the entrance.
Here our lamps are lighted, and we
enter this silent, mysterious, change
less abode of eternal night, where the
heat of summer and the cold of winter.
the storms and thunderS Of the outer
world, never penetrate. A few huE
dred yards. and we feel the peculiar
sensation Of emerging into expanding
space. We catch only glimpses of white
limestone projecting out Of black shad-
ows Of the far-away walls and ceiling
Of an immense, almost circular room
about seventy feet high, which our
guide proclaims the Rotunda.
w
of the human voice. Years ago it was
my good fortune to hear a celebrated
German musical society sing in this
Rotunda 1 went far away in one OF
the avenues leading from here, blew
out my light, and sat alone in the dark
ness and listened while the grand an
thems rolled and reverberated through
the lofty corridors in majestic waves
of melody. I could then appreciate the
inestimable privilege Of the few who
heard Jenny Lind sing here, and who
in the Star Chamber heard member
Of her party render on his violin the
prayer from Der ErieschutZ."
When the Rotunda is illuminated We
note the perfect clearnesS Of the at
mosphere, the freedom from dust par
ticles CT any kind; and we soon learn
that nowhere in the cave will even dust
rise upon our shoes. We note also the
exhilarating effect of the air upon the
members Of our party. 1t is believed
that the air has become oxygenated by
chemical process; certainly, from its
purity and dryness, it enables. one to
undergo exercise for hours without g.
sense of fatigue. Here before us is
evidence of the wonderful dryneSs Of
the air. The saltpeter watts erected in
1872 and the timbers which have re-
mained in their present position since
then show no evidences of decay. In
these vats the saltpeter was leached
from the nitrous earth abounding in
the upper and middle dry avenues, and
used for the manufacture of gunpOw-
der. The war of 1912 was fought on
the American side, with gunpowder
made from saltpeter taken from caves,
and Mammoth Cave supplied the great
er part. One wonders how, in the alb
sence of germs and Of decay, the earth
becomes charged with nitrogen. 1t has
been claimed that nitric acid in the at
mcSphere, combining with the lime
stone, forms nitrate Of calcium, and
the disintegrated waste from the walls
and ceiling yields the great supply of
nitrogen abounding in the cave.
1t requires a day and a half to make
the regulation Journeys through the
cave; one half a day to what is known
as the Short Route, and an entire day
to the Long or River Route. But that
by no means exhausts the objects of
interest and one may spend days in
visiting avenues and chambers and
domes not included in the regular
routes.