In July, the large column had lost 6
inches of its height, and the thermometer gave 38 deg..75 F. and 74 deg..75 F.
In October, the large column was only 3 feet high, and many of the
others had disappeared, while their pedestal had become much thinner
than it had been in the preceding months. There was also a considerable
amount of mud in the cave, brought down apparently by the heavy rains of
autumn. The thermometer gave 37 deg..6 F. and 63 deg..5 F.
On the 8th of January, 1779, there were nine columns of very beautiful
ice, and one of these, as before, was larger than the rest, being 5 feet
high and 10 feet in circumference. The temperatures were 21 deg. F. and
16 deg..15 F. in the cave and in the open air respectively.
Tradition related that, before the removal of the ice in 1727, one of
the columns reached the roof, (Prevost calculated the limits of the
height of the cave at 90 and 60 feet,) and this suggested to Dr. Oudot
the idea of placing stakes of wood in the heads of the columns he found
in the cave, in the hope that ice would thus collect in greater
quantities under the fissures of the roof.
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