On the Brandstein in Styria, in the district of Gems, there is an ice-hole closely resembling some of the glacières of the Jura. It is described by Sartori,[[123]] as lying in a much-fissured region, reached after four hours of steep ascent from the neighbouring village, through a forest of fir. Some of the fissures contain water and some snow, while others are apparently unfathomable. From one of the largest of these, a strong and cold current blows in summer, and in this fissure is the ice-hole. Sartori found crimpons necessary for descending the frozen snow which led from the entrance to the floor of the cave, where he discovered pillars and capitals and pyramids of ice of every possible shape and variety, as if the cave had contained the ruins of a Gothic church, or a fairy palace. At the farther end, after passing large cascades of ice, his party reached a dark grey hole, which lighted up into blue and green under the influence of the torches; they could not discover the termination of this hole, and the stones which they rolled down into it seemed to go on for ever. The greatest height of the cave is about 36 feet, and its length 192 feet, with a maximum breadth of 126 feet. Towards the end of autumn, the temperature of the ice-hole rises so much, that the glacial decorations disappear, and various wild animals are driven by the cold of winter to take shelter in the comparative warmth of the cave. The elevation of the district in which this ice-hole occurs is about 1,800 German feet above the sea.
In Upper Styria, where the Frauenmauer overlooks the basin in which the mining town of Eisenerz is situated, an ice-cave has been explored, and a description of it has been given by certain members of the Austrian Alpine Club.[[124]] The Brandstein is spoken of as one of the peaks in the immediate neighbourhood; and as the cave previously described is stated by Sartori to be on the Brandstein, that district would seem to be rich in glacières. The cavern is most easily explored from Eisenerz, and on that side the entrance is 4,539 Vienna feet above the sea. Its other outlet, in the Tragöss valley, is 300 feet higher. The total length of the cave is 2,040 Vienna feet. After passing the entrance, which is an archway from 12 to 18 feet high, the main course of the cave is soon left, and a branch is followed which leads to the Eis-kammer. This ice-chamber consists of a grotto from 30 to 40 fathoms long, decked with ice-crystals, pillars of ice, and cascades of the same material, the floor being composed of ice as smooth as glass. In the summer, pleasure-parties assemble in the cave and amuse themselves with the game of Eisschiessen, so popular in Upper Styria as a winter diversion. The hotter the summer, the more ice is found in the Eiskammer, and the general belief is that it all disappears in winter.
The cave proper, which assumes stupendous dimensions in its long course, shows no ice. It seems to be formed in the Muschelkalk of the Trias formation, and so far no limestone stalactites have been discovered. It has not, however, as yet been fully explored. The editor of the proceedings of the Austrian Alpine Club gives a reference to Scheiner, 'Ausflug nach der Höhle der Frauenmauer,' (Steiermarkische Zeitschrift, neue Folge, i. 2, 1834, p. 3.)
At Latzenberg, near Weissenstein in Carniola, there is another ice-cave, described by Rosenmüller.[[125]] It is entered by a long dark passage in which are pillars of ice arranged like the pipes of an organ, varying from the thickness of a man's body to the size of a straw. All these are said to melt in winter. Farther on are two other passages, one of which passes upwards over Stufe, and is coated in summer with ice; the other has not been explored.
Near Glaneck in the Untersberg, not far from Salzburg, is a cave called the Kolowrathöhle, of which a description is given by Gümbel in his great geological work on the Bavarian Alps.[[126]] It is a spacious cavern, opening in a steep wall of rock above the Rositenschlucht between the Platten and Dachstein-kalk.[[127]] An ice-current rushes from within, and ice is found on the threshold, becoming more prevalent in the farther recesses of the cave. The lower parts are tolerably roomy, and masses of ice of various shapes are found piled one upon another, lighting up with magical effect when torches are brought to bear upon them. Gümbel believes that the cold currents which stream into the cave from the numerous fissures in its walls are the cause of the ice; and though this is the only known ice-cave far and near, he imagines that the icy-currents which are frequently met with in that district, and in the Hochgebirge, would be found to proceed in reality from like caves, if the fissures from which they blow could be penetrated.
Behrens[[128]] describes two ice-caves near Questenberg, in the county of Stollberg, on the Harz mountains. They both occur in limestone, and are known as the Great and Little Ice-holes. The one is close to the village of Questenberg, and consists of a chasm several fathoms deep, so cold that in summer the water trickling down its edges is frozen into long icicles. The opening is large and faces due south, and yet the hotter the day the more ice is found; whereas in winter a warm steam comes out, as if from a stove. The other cave is farther into the mountain; it is spacious and light, and very cold in summer.
In Gehler's Physik. Wörterbuch (Art Höhle), a small hole is mentioned near Dôle, which is said to be remarkable for the large and curiously-shaped icicles found there; but no sufficient account of it seems to have been given.
An ice-hole is also spoken of in the same article, which occurs on the east side of the town of Vesoul.[[129]] The hole is described as being small, with a little rivulet of water: this water, and also that which trickles down the walls of the cave, is converted into ice, and so much is formed on a cold day that it requires eight warm days to melt it. Gollut, in his description of the fré-puits of Vesoul,[[130]] observes that the remarkable pit known by that name was so cold, that in his time it had never been fully explored. Gehler's expression, however, 'a small hole,' cannot possibly apply to the fré-puits; so that these would seem to be two different examples of cold caves near Vesoul.
There is an interesting account in Poggendorff's Annalen[[131]] of a visit made by Professor A. Pleischl to a mountain in the circle of Leitmeritz, where ice is found in summer under very curious circumstances. The mountain is called Pleschiwetz, and lies above Kameik, in Bohemia, not far from the town of Leitmeritz. On the 24th of June in each year, large numbers of pilgrims assemble at the romantic chapel of S. John the Baptist in the Wilderness; and it is a part of their occupation to search for ice under the basaltic rocks, and carry it home wrapped in moss, as a proof that they have really made the pilgrimage. Professor Pleischl visited this district at the end of May 1834. The weather was hot for the season, as had been the case in April also, and there had been very little snow in the winter. A path leads from the chapel of S. John through the woods which deck the Pleschiwetz, and then over a small plain to the foot of the basaltic rocks. Here the mountain slopes away very steeply to the south, and the slope is thickly strewn with basaltic débris. From east to west this slope measures about 40 fathoms, and its length is about 70 fathoms. It is surrounded on both sides and at the foot by trees and shrubs. The sun burned so directly on to the débris, that the basaltic blocks were in some cases too hot to be touched by the naked hand.
Professor Pleischl spent three hours of the early afternoon on this spot. The upper surface of the basaltic blocks had a temperature of at least 122° F. The presence of an icy current was detected by inserting the hand into the lower crevices; and on removing the loose stones to a depth of 1-1/2 or 2 feet, ice was found in considerable quantities. On the 27th of August, he proceeded to make a further investigation of this phenomenon; but he found the temperature of the blocks only 106° F., and in the crevices, at a depth of 2 or 3 feet, the lowest temperature reached was 38°·75 F. The external temperature in the shade was at the same time 83° F.