Natural things and natural processes are paramount. Manmade facilities such as trails, lights and steps are necessary to allow visitors to enjoy the cave. But they are kept at a minimum. Your guide will ask you not to touch any of the cave formations. This is to keep them from being stained or broken. Prior to the establishment of the National Monument in 1909, fragile formations were the object of severe vandalism and thoughtless destruction by souvenir hunters (see illustration page 33). It is doubly important to preserve the remaining features for the benefit of those who will come here tomorrow and in later years. [Illustration: Vandalism: Nature required many thousands of years to create these stalactites. A thoughtless person needed only a few moments to destroy them.] Outside the cave, the Monument is a place where flowers are enjoyed in their natural state and not picked, where birds and wild animals are unmolested by hunters or trappers. The forest is undisturbed. On the trails away from the cave area, the hiker may see animals and plants fulfilling their existence as they did centuries ago. It is to this philosophy that the national parks and monuments are dedicated. GLOSSARY OF CAVE TERMS Bacon A thin sheet of calcite drapery having alternating dark and light bands which give it the appearance of a strip of bacon. The dark, reddish bands are usually caused by an iron oxide stain. Bedding plane The stratification or meeting place of two different layers of sedimentary rock. Blade A calcite sheet originally deposited in a crack, then later exposed. Breakdown Heaps of rubble on a cavern floor caused by the collapse of walls or ceiling. Calcium bicarbonate An unstable compound occurring when carbonic acid contacts calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate A mineral with the chemical formula CaCO₃. Calcite A crystalline form of calcium carbonate. Carbonic acid A weak acid occurring as a liquid, having the formula H₂CO₃, a mixture of carbon dioxide and water. Clastic dike A dike made up of fragments of pre-existing rocks. Column A speleothem formed when a stalactite and a stalagmite meet. Deposit A natural occurrence of mineral material, such as an iron ore deposit; or in the vocabulary of the speleologist, any cave formation originating from deposition. Drapery Hanging speleothem in the form of a curtain or drape. Dripstone A calcite deposit left by dripping water. Flowstone A calcite deposit left by flowing water along a cave wall or floor. Fracture A break in rock. Gallery An underground passage. Ground water Water within the earth, such as feeds wells. Helictite A variant form of stalactite which does not hang vertically or which has side growths resembling twisted roots.