Hymen Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Nat. Park, Wyo.

HYMEN TERRACE, MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, YELLOWSTONE NAT. PARK. The celebrated Mammoth Hot Springs lie a little to the W. of old Fort Yellowstone, formerly an army post but since 1917 the headquarters of the Park Rangers. The beautiful terraces which have been slowly built up by deposits from the lime-charged waters of the steaming and, in some cases, boiling pools present one of the most striking panoramas to be seen in the Park. These terraces are veritable mountains, covering at least 200 acres and with a total height of over 200 ft. The springs whose mineral deposits are continually creating these terraces are hot but seldom boiling, being at too low a temperature. But there is often an appearance of boiling, occasioned by the escape of bubbles of carbonic acid gas. There are at least 10 or 12 distinct terraces at Mammoth and 70 active springs, with tempeatures varying from 116° to 160° F. Hymen Terrace, before which we now stand, is one of the most beautiful of these formations. Others are Jupiter, Cleopatra, Minerva, Pulpit, Mound and Angel Terraces. Here are pulpits finer than those in the most elaborate of Old World cathedrals; edges of purest jasper upheld by tapering shafts which resemble nothing so much as the richly decorated pipes of a cathedral organ. It seems as though these pulpits stand here silently awaiting the orator Nature would deem worthy of her sanctuary. At the top of each of the richly tinted terraces are the hot pools which build them, each tiny lake radiant with lovely hues. To see how these springs accomplish their architectural triumphs we have only to study the terraces one after another. (View looking N. E. Elev. 6,500 ft. Lat. 45° N.; Long. 111° W.)