He also says: "The formation of dripstone is also diminished about thick roofs, when the cracks are too broad to permit a slow dripping process. In caves with sufficient air movements, that is ventilation, the dripstone formation takes place faster than in those in which the air is only slowly renewed. Also in such caves, in which the air is strongly filled with moisture, the dripstone formation process is materially hindered. Therefore in water caves and in _eishöhlen_ one finds only rarely dripstone formations, and these mainly of poor appearance. But in all cases the carbonic acid of the infiltration water plays an important part." In 1896, a Western newspaper published the following explanation about the presence of ice in the cave at Elkinsville, Indiana; and it shows how the idea--long since exploded--of the ice being due to chemical causes, serenely bobs up on the discovery of a new cave: "Some have advanced the theory that the air is forced through under passages of the earth with such pressure as to make the strange formation; some have attributed the cause to an underlying bed of alkali, whose chemical change to a gaseous form has produced the phenomenon. Others have thought that the interior heat of the earth, acting upon the iron pyrites, or fool's gold, which largely abounds in this country, is the true source of this unparalleled discovery. Still others think that the sudden expansion of the carbonic acid gas given off by the heated limestone, which is also common in this country, could have easily produced the ice. But thus far the theories are nothing more than speculation, and further than the fact that the ice cave exists, and is, indeed, a remarkable phenomenon, none has been able to further determine." In 1896, Dr. A. Cvijic wrote that the cold air of winter is the source of cold in the glacières of Servia. The mountains have so little water that the shepherds constantly take the ice out in summer for their own use. In 1897, numerous newspapers, among others, the _Philadelphia Press_ of August 1st, romanced as follows about the cave at Decorah: "In the summer its temperature is far below freezing. * * * From some unknown source in the impenetrable rear of the cave comes a blast of cold air as chill as from the Arctic region. In the winter the temperature of the cave is like summer. * * * We followed the winding passage in and out for more than 1000 feet. * * * I took out the thermometer and laid it upon the floor of the cavern for three minutes. When I took it up again I found that the mercury had fallen to 5 degrees below zero."