Planes or crystal
ghosts, sometimes with pyrite crystals, marking stages of growth in the
calcite crystals, are often distinguishable. The entire absence of
anything like stalactites is noticeable, and together with the presence
of the crystals, show that the cave was completely filled with water
during their growth." In the same volume, all those counties in the
extreme southwest corner of the state, whose geological age has not
heretofore been considered positively determined, are mapped as Lower
Carboniferous, and Lower Silurian, with the Coal Measures covering
portions of Barton and Jasper and appearing in a few small, scattered
spots in Dade, Polk, Green and Christian counties, and some scanty lines
of Devonian fringing the edges of the Silurian in Barton and McDonald.
Other State reports make mention of many caves and fine springs, and
also several natural bridges worthy of special notice. In Mr. G.C.
Broadhead's report for 1873-1874, he gives a short but interesting
chapter on caves and water supplies, in which he says that "Caves occur
in the Third Magnesian Limestone, Saccharoidal Sandstone, Trenton,
Lithographic, Encrinital and St. Louis Limestone."
"In Eastern and Northeast Missouri there have not been found many large
caves in the Encrinital Limestone, but the lower beds of this formation
in Southwest Missouri often enclose very large caverns; among the latter
may be included the caves of Green County with some in Christian and
McDonald.
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