After
descending a yard or two, this becomes larger, and divides into two main
branches, with three other fissures penetrating into the heart of the
mountain, too narrow to admit of a passage. The roof is very irregular,
and the stones on the floor are interspersed with ice, which appears
also in the form of icicles upon the walls; and, in the eastern branch
of the cave, there is a cylindrical pillar more than 3 feet long, with
a diameter of rather more than a foot. The temperature at 4 P.M. on
July 15, 1841, was as follows:--The external air, 59 deg.; the cave, at the
entrance, 37.2?; near the large cylinder, 35 deg..7; and in different parts
of the western branch, from 33 deg..6 to 32 deg..9.
M. Carrel was evidently not aware of the existence of similar caves
elsewhere. He recommends, in his communication to the _Bibliotheque
Universelle_, that some scientific man should investigate the phenomena,
and explain the great cold, and the fact of the formation of ice, which
common report ascribed to the time of the Dog-days. He doubts whether
rapid evaporation can be the only cause, and suggests that possibly
there may be something in the interior of the mountain to account for
this departure from the laws generally recognised in geology.
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