enter Apollo's temple and descend into a chamber below the sanctuary ground. She sits on a tripod in the chamber and is cleansed by water from the Castalian spring, which entered through a large chasm in the rock floor. Various accounts describe the emission of gases also arising from the chasm while others say burnt bay laurel leaves created the fumes. All reports state the Pythia inhaled the gases or fumes, drank from a silver bowl containing water from the Castalian spring, and held a branch of the bay laurel plant in her hand and, in doing so, the Pythia was brought to a state of delirium. In this tranced psychological state came the knowledge of Apollo which the Pythia would begin to voice in words which could not be understood. A priest standing above in the temple hears her voice through an opening in the floor and interprets the prophecy. The priest's interpretation of the prophecy was then delivered either verbally to the inquirer or, often in more important cases, were written by the priest on a bay laurel leaf. This interpretation is controversial, and has been challenged by scholars such as Joseph Fontenrose and Lisa Maurizio, who argue that the ancient sources uniformly represent the Pythia speaking intelligibly, and giving prophecies in her own voice. The legitimacy of the oracular process which took place at the Temple of Apollo is debated by scholars. Authors of classics, C.R. Whittaker, and geologists, J.Z. De Boer and J.R. Hale, have concluded the accounts of the Pythia's experience are myth. There is no evidence of a large fissure or chasm in the ground under the temple, and there is no indication that consuming bay laurel leaves or water from the Castalian spring can induce an intoxicated state. Whittaker attributes these details to ancient authors' inability to understand myths which described the experiences of the Pythia. Some classical and archaeological scholars also suggest that inquiries were given to the Pythia as two options for two different courses of action, and she would choose the correct course of action while in her altered state, an interpretation better accepted by scholars. Excavation In 1892, the first excavation at Delphi, known as the Great Excavation, took place. The French government, in 1891, granted the French School of Athens the rights to excavate and the process started in 1892 and ended in 1894. Archaeologist, Jean Théphille Homelle,