Book Description

Excerpt from Guide Book to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky: Historical, Scientific, and Descriptive The statement is made that the temperature of the cave never falls much below 52 degrees Fah., even in the cold it est winter weather, and does not rise above 57 degrees at any time.. To this, however, a curious exception is made, which I give in Dr. Brown's own words In one chamber the heat was frequently so great as to be disagreeable. The room is nearly circular and about 20 feet in diameter. The air which fills the main avenue in summer and au tumu is forced into this chamber, whenever the external atmospheric air becomes so much condensed by cold as to rush into the mouth of the cave; and whenever during the winter any portion of air in the main avenue is heated by fires or lamps, as this heated air can not escape by the mouth of the cave (for the arch descends toward the month) it ascends into this chamber and rises to the ceiling, where it must remain. He then compares this peculiar cell to the Russian vapor bath to which Count Rumford had recently called the public attention. Workmen dug down fifteen feet into the soil on the floor of this cave, and found it still rich in niter, although no animal remains are mentioned, nor Indian relics. The learned authority quoted next enters into the dc; tails of preparing saltpeter for the market, claiming for it superiority to that found in Spain and India, and closes his really remarkable and historic paper with an appeal to the patriotism of Americans to make themselves inde pendent of foreign sources of supply. A concern for the glory and defense of our country, observes Dr. Brown, should prompt such of our chemists as have talents and' leisure to investigate this interesting subject. I suspect that we have much to learn with regard to this salt, so valuable in time of peace, so indispensable in time of war. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.