Cavers, Caves, and Caving

Author: Bruce Sloane, Editor
Publisher: Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ. 1977.
ISBN: 0-8135-0835-5
Library of Congress Catalogue Number: 76-55358
Number of Pages: 409

Some areas of the United States are particularly rich in caves, but there is at least one cave in the majority of the states. Many aspects of caves, caving and speleology in the United States, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico are dealt with in this popular anthology. It covers the entire scope of caves from lava tubes to sea caves, from bats and blind fish to conservation and pollution. The authors, all associated with the National Speleological Society, are experts in their specialties. Numerous photographs, historic and new, enhance the text.

Of course there are adventure stories: the descents into the 400-foot pits of Alabama's Fern Cave; extensive explorations in Jewel Cave, South Dakota; the traverse by rubber boat through an unknown underground river in Puerto Rico, and the explorations by scuba divers of the Blue Holes of the Bahamas.

Caves have played an important role in the history and folklore of this country since George Washington's explorations. The mummies of Mammoth Cave were stolen, sold, and exhibited for pecuniary purposes. Historical stories tell of the humorous folklore of Indiana's Wyandotte Cave; Lester Howe's search for a more beautiful cave than his namesake cave in New York; a sociological study of Floyd Collins's entrapment and death in a lonely Kentucky cave.

Many cave are known for their beauty and grandeur, including world-renown Carlsbad Cavern and its cathedral-sized rooms. Others deserve greater fame, such as the Caverns of Sonora in Texas with their exquisite delicate crystal formations.

Cave animals, many blind and with special sense organs, have been studied for their ecological adaptations, and show explicitly the processes of evolution.

For the caver, the book will have special appeal. For the armchair caver, it will be a pleasant, if vicarious, experience.

Bruce Sloan received his A.B. degree from Dartmouth College and his M.S. degree from Montana State University. He is the son of Howard N. Sloane, who with Charles E. Mohr edited Celebrated American Caves, published by Rutgers University Press.