Carbonate of lime is found in solution in nearly, if not quite, all of the mineral waters, and is also found in the water of the ocean. In earlier times it must have been held in solution in much greater quantities than at present. The myriads of sea animals that existed, and that still exist, gathered from the water this substance, which formed their shells, and served as a house in which they lived. New germs were continually forming new shells, while the older ones ceased to live as animals, and their houses in which they lived were precipitated to the bottom of the ocean, where they were bound together as limestone rock. These sea animals no doubt caused a much more rapid formation of limestone than would or could have been the case without their existence. One can thus readily see what an important factor animal life has been in the process of world-building. This process is still going on, but probably not to the same extent as in former ages, because it is not likely that there is so much carbonate of lime held in solution as there was before these great limestone beds were formed. Limestone, however, is easily disintegrated by the action of water. We find the spring water impregnated with it as well as that of the small streams and rivers. Pure water is a powerful solvent. When the rains fall upon the earth the water percolates through it and through the limestone strata, which gradually wears away the limestone and carries it back to the ocean, so that the process of tearing down and building up is continually going on. The great caves that are found everywhere in the limestone regions were formed by the action of water. The great Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, which is said to have 200 miles of underground passages, has been entirely worn out by the action of running water.