Stalactite

“ It is needless to say that the proprietor of each cave affirms his to be the better—as a matter of fact, both are well worth seeing. One looks with something like awe on the fantastic shapes of the stalagmites and stalactites in these huge caverns, where the moisture, percolating through the earth, has been dripping in the darkness for countless centuries, each lime-laden drop lengthening imperceptibly the stalactite overhead and the stalagmite beneath, while the consequent splashings, and, in some parts, more sluggish dripping, make hundreds of quaint and suggestive forms above and below. ”

“ Some of the columns which support the archway have tier upon tier of stalactites, drooping so as to counterfeit water flowing from a fountain, alternating with stalactite formation like boughs of weeping willow. One prominent stalagmite is like the back of a newly-shorn sheep, with shear-marks in the wool. On the western side is a figure like that of an orator in the act of exhortation. The forehead is bald, long white locks are flowing on to the shoulders, one arm is upraised, and the pose gives an idea of earnestness and force. ”

“ Inferior to zero by some tenths of a degree, it produces first on the surface, in the stalactites, the prismatic structure. The temperature continues to rise, the central portions of the stalactites, still composed of ordinary ice, liquefy, and if the melting water finds some issue, either by accidental openings left between some prisms, or by the extremity of the stalactite or by some point of its surface which had escaped the action of the regular crystallization; by this opening the water escapes, and the tubular stalactite has been formed. ”

“ These pensile figures are by all writers on Moorish architecture held to be an imitation of stalactite. Nothing can be more absurd: stalactite is produced by successive coatings or deposits, whereas the process by which they must have been formed is abrasion, the salient points being obtained by the concavity of the intervening surfaces. ”

“ The entrance, or hall, is a fine lofty dark vault, supported in the middle by one enormous stalactite column. Beyond this the cave becomes narrower, and the numberless stalactites of all sizes present a greater variety of forms than it is possible to describe: immense cauliflowers, trunks of trees, fruits; rounds and ovals of all sizes, from that of a marble to globes of many feet in diameter; pyramids rising up from below, and whose bases are lost in profound darkness; myriads of peaks hanging from the roof, often invisible to the eye, are seen at every step. ”

“ At the same time the drops that fall to the floor, solidifying one at a time, build up a slender pyramid beneath,—a stalagmite,—which reaches higher and higher as its stalactite hangs lower and lower. ”

“ Those slender agents which have devoted themselves unceasingly to the accomplishment of a single task may in this long lapse of time have accomplished results of stupendous magnitude. In famed stalactite caverns we are shown a colossal figure of crystal extending from floor to roof, and the formation of that column is accounted for when we see a tiny drop falling from the roof above to the floor beneath. A lifetime may not suffice for that falling drop to add an appreciable increase to the stalactite down which it trickles, or to the growing stalagmite on which it falls ”

“ After we had refreshed our eyes with the clear prospect, and washed our gums and throat with wine, we went round again to notice any other peculiarities which might characterise this peak of hell, thus rearing itself in the midst of a paradise. I again observed attentively some chasms, in appearance like so many Vulcanic forges, which emitted no smoke, but continually shot out a steam of hot, glowing air. They were all tapestried, as it were, with a kind of stalactite, which covered the funnel to the top with its knobs and chintz-like variation of colours. ”

“ On the walls were folds and ridges of snowy stalagmite, and from the roof hung stalactites of all shapes and sizes, myriads of threadlike growths hanging in a lacy fringe. Onwards the arcading and the array of pillars extended into a roomy vault, the end of which struck upwards, as already explained, south-eastwards, toward Dry Gill. Though a perceptible draught comes through from the open air, and the heaps of clay-coated blocks show that a swallet is not far off above, no way can be forced through without excavation. ”

“ Massive grandeur is set off with the most delicate and fragile beauty. Stalagmites are not numerous here, but one about eight feet in height, and two inches in diameter at the base, tapers off gradually towards the roof until it becomes as attenuated as the thin end of a fishing-rod. The stalactitic formation hangs in ponderous grotesquely-shaped concretions, some of which extend from the roof nearly to the floor, and many of the stalactites which decorate the stalactitic formation are perfect in shape and purity. ”

“ A hardened, but still easily frangible or pulverisable earth, also containing animal parts, and sometimes blackish, forms their natural envelope. It is [535] often impregnated and covered with a crust of stalactite. A covering of the same nature invests the bones in various places, penetrates their natural cavities, and sometimes attaches them to the walls of the cavern. This stalactite is often coloured reddish by the animal earth which is mixed with it. ”

“ They are inclined at angles of 30 and 40 degrees, their walls being generally coated with stalactite, pieces of which have here and there been broken off and mingled with the contents of the rents, thus helping to explain why we so often meet with detached pieces of that substance in the mud and breccia of the Belgian caves. It is not easy to conceive that a solid horizontal floor of hard stalagmite should, after its formation, be broken up by running water ”

“ A large mass of formation has flowed from the fore part of the ceiling to the left, and assumed all sorts of graceful and fantastic shapes, until it reaches a shell pattern composite dwarf wall on the floor, about a foot thick at the base, and thinning off to about an inch at the top. The best of the stalactites are objects of great curiosity on account of the peculiar way in which they are embellished by small gnarled and twisted projections, and protuberances like miniature stalactitic Protea in every conceivable kind of tortuosity. ”

“ The wondrous forces of nature, tirelessly building through the ages these unseen, unimagined, weird splendours, were still at work, and though great stalactites hung down from the lofty roof like a hundred chandeliers, the continual drip from these ponderous pendants, of the waters charged with lime, had not yet built up from the floor the stalagmites to form the columns in which they would one day meet. ”

“ Not only do the caves wear out from above, but their roofs are constantly falling to their floors, a process which is greatly aided by the growth of stalactites. Forming in the crevices or joints between the stones, these rock growths sometimes prize off great blocks. In other cases the weight of the pendent stalactite drags the ill-supported masses of the roof to the floor. In this way a gallery originally a hundred feet below the surface may work its way upward to the light of day. ”

“ The older growth is essentially of a stalactitic type, and the stalactites are remarkably thick, though in one or two cases a huge stalagmite is to be seen. The newer growth exhibits every fantastic and beautiful form known, from the thin hollow reed and transparent veil to the snow-white dome stalagmites, the crystal-fringed pool, the wave-lined floor, and the crooked-fringed shapes that are turned in all directions. ”

“ Creeping under an arch, we found ourselves in a transverse fissure that may have run as far as the legends pleased, but grew too narrow in a few feet for any human being to penetrate farther. A few rudimentary stalactites and a crust of pure white calcite adorned one small grotto; the rest was bare rock walls and rugged arches, springing here and there high into the darkness, in fissures that must reach very nearly to the summit of the cliff. A branch passage dwindled away still more quickly, and so did a minor opening that looks like a side door to the main entrance. ”

“ The calcareous deposits which spread over the ground of the caverns are called stalagmite, and the name of stalactite is given to those which hang down from the roof, forming pendants, natural decorations, and ornaments as of alabaster or marble, producing sometimes the most magnificent effects.
Under the stalagmite the largest number of animal bones have been found. This crust, which has been to them a preservatory grave, is so thick and hard that a pick-axe is required in order to break it. ”

“ On the other hand, a bone washed through a rent into a subterranean cavity, even though a rarer contingency, may have a greater chance of escaping destruction, especially if there be stalactite dropping from the roof of the cave or walls of a rent, and if the cave be not constantly traversed by too strong a current of engulfed water. ”

“ This limestone rock is by its nature disintegrating wherever it is exposed to the air and frost, and the foundations of the bastions which support the causses are being continually sapped by water which carries away the lime in solution and deposits a part of it elsewhere in the form of stalactite and stalagmite in the deep galleries where subterranean rivers often run, and which probably descend to the lowest part of the formation. ”

“ The stems and the branches of the brush took the place of the wire, and in their meshes the snow had been pressed through by its own weight, but held together by its curious ductility or tensile strength of which I was to find further evidence soon enough. It thus formed innumerable, blunted little stalactites, but without the corresponding stalagmites which you find in limestone caves or on the north side of buildings when the snow from the roof thaws and forms icicles and slender cones of ice growing up to meet them from the ground where the trickling drops fall and freeze again. ”

“ However beautiful the interior of the cave, from the white colour and ornamental effects of the stalactites which incrust it, the want of sufficient dimensions materially lessens the interest, which in all other respects it is calculated to excite. At the termination of the stalactitical ornaments there is a dark descent for a few yards, filled with rubbish, the ruins of the roof above, which being here naked as well as accessible, is plainly seen to be one of the trap veins. ”

“ These stalactites hang down from the cave-roofs, and even they are due to the Magic Well! That may seem strange; but the way it happens is this:—Little drops of water, very slowly oozing down from the top of the cave, carry with them the tiniest bits of sand or limestone. The first pieces of sand or limestone just stick to the roof; and then, every other little piece, after it gets through, just clings to the piece that got there before it, so that, by-and-by, thousands and thousands of them, all joined together, make a stalactite. ”

“ The next chamber is about 14 feet by 12 feet, at the end of a slight declivity as white as snow. It is in the form of an ordinary retort, and is succeeded by another chamber of somewhat similar contour, the principal ornamentation being on the floor. Thence the course is upwards, and the most attractive formation is from the roof. The stalactites are in clusters, and for the most part small. Some of them are like twigs, but clear as a limpid stream. Here also are stalagmites about nine inches high, formed on the ends of huge rocks. ”

“ Blue limestone is the base of the whole cave; every where covered with incrustations of carbonates. In some places the uneven sides of the rocks are quite covered with white crystals of the carbonate of lime, and appear like banks of salt. Sometimes the pavement sparkles as a floor of diamonds; and again the pathway is pebbled, and resembles the deserted bed of a river. It is impossible to convey any idea of the number and variety of shapes which the stalactites assume; resembling every thing in nature, and in the worlds of imagination, they are still unlike every thing but themselves. ”

“ There are stately and elegant shafts of alabaster from floor to ceiling, coloured stalactites and stalagmites nearly meeting. At every glance the eye is pleased with new and curious forms and rich combinations of colour. Masses of the formation are fringed with contorted threads and pipes, and on the foreground are some curiously-shaped masses like snow, with delicate frost work and projections like frosted hairs all over their surface. These are for the most part opaque, but the predominant features are crystal. ”

“ They may also be invested with stalactite if buried in fissures or caves of limestone; or with travertine if exposed to the action of streams highly charged with carbonate of lime, like the so-called petrifying springs of Derby- shire; or impacted in ferruginous conglomerate, if deposited with implements of iron, or in a soil charged with chalybeate waters; and these effects may be produced in the course of a very brief period;—a few years, or even months, will often suffice for the formation of a compact, durable mass, in which bones, pottery, and coins, and other substances may be imbedded. ”

“ Throughout the entire cave could be found the calcareous deposit so common in caves formed in limestone rocks, and the stalactite hangings on the ceilings and walls, and the stalagmites on the floors made the scene a weird one.
John glanced upwardly to view the ceiling, above the mound, and said: "That does not seem to be a natural formation. Let us examine it first."
With the small pick which John always carried, and by means of which he was always careful to examine rocks and geological formations, while on these tours, the top parts of the stalagmites were chipped off. ”