Free
stalagmites, however, which are formed under fissures capable of
pouring down a large amount of water on the occasion of a great flood
of rain, must succumb in time, though not so soon as the supported
columns.
A curious appearance was presented by a small free stalagmite in the
retired part of the cave. The surface of the stalagmite was wet, from
the drops proceeding from a fissure above, and was lightly covered in
many parts with a calcareous deposit, brought down from the fissures in
the roof by the water filtering through. The stalagmite was of the
double-edged-sword shape, and the limestone deposit collected chiefly at
one of its edges, the edge nearer to that part of the cave where thaw
prevailed; so that the real edge was a ridge of deposit beyond the edge
of the ice.[8] Patches of limestone paste lay on many parts of the
ice-floor.
In the loftier part of the cave, water dropped from the roof to so
large an extent, that ninety-six drops of water in a minute splashed
on to a small stone immediately under the main fissure. This stone was
in the centre of a considerable area of the floor which was clear of
ice; and it struck me that if the columns were formed by the freezing
of water dropping from the roof, there ought to have been at some time
a large column under this, the most plentiful source of water in the
cave.
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