The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852Various
History
The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Cornelia's Table is a safe centre, from which individuals may diverge on
little exploring expeditions; for the paths here are not labyrinthine,
and the hall is conspicuous from various neighboring points of view. In
most regions of the cave, it is hazardous to lose sight of the guide. If
you think to walk straight ahead, even for a few rods, and then turn
short round and return to him, you will find it next to impossible to do
so. So many paths come in at acute angles; they look so much alike; and
the light of a lamp reveals them so imperfectly, that none but the
practised eye of a guide can disentangle their windings. A gentleman who
retraced a few steps, near the entrance of the cave, to find his hat,
lost his way so completely, that he was not found for forty-eight hours,
though twenty or thirty people were in search of him. Parties are
occasionally mustered and counted, to see that none are missing. Should
such an accident happen, there is no danger, if the wanderer will remain
stationary; for he will soon be missed, and a guide sent after him. From
the hall of congealed drops, you may branch off into a succession of
small caves, called Cecilia's Grottoes. Here nearly all the beautiful
formations of the surrounding caves, such as grapes, flowers, stars,
leaves, coral, &c., may be found so low, that you can conveniently
examine their minutest features. One of these little recesses, covered
with sparkling spar, set in silvery gypsum, is called Diamond Grotto.
Alma's Bower closes this series of wonderful formations. As a whole,
they are called Cleveland's Cabinet, in honor of Professor Cleveland, of
Bowdoin College. Silliman calls this admirable series, the Alabaster
Caves. He says: "I was at first at a loss to account for such beautiful
formations, and especially for the elegance of the curves exhibited. It
is however evident that the substances have grown from the rocks, by
increments or additions to the base; the solid parts already formed
being continually pushed forward. If the growth be a little more rapid
on one side than on the other, a well-proportioned curve will be the
result; should the increased action on one side diminish or increase,
then all the beauties of the conic and mixed curves would be produced.
The masses are often evenly and longitudinally striated by a kind of
columnar structure, exhibiting a fascicle of small prisms; and some of
these prisms ending sooner than others, give a broken termination of
great beauty, similar to our form of the emblem of 'the order of the
star.' The rosettes formed by a mammillary disk surrounded by a circle
of leaves, rolled elegantly outward, are from four inches to a foot in
diameter. Tortuous vines, throwing off curled leaves at every flexure,
like the branches of a chandelier, running more than a foot in length,
and not thicker than the finger, are among the varied frost-work of
these grottoes; common stalactites of carbonate of lime, although
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