THE GROWTH OF STALAGMITES AND STALACTITES 107 



an approximation, may be useful. A number of investigators 

 during the last century have considered the question of the rate of 

 stalagmitic growth as an aid in archeological chronology, but 

 careful observations on different stalagmites gave such widely 

 varying results that the observers were discouraged. This is not 

 surprising since they 'expected to secure uniformity in results from 

 stalagmites grown under very diverse conditions. 



HISTORICAL 



In 1874, W. Boyd Dawkins examined certain lime deposits 

 in Ingleborough Cave, Devonshire, and came to the conclusion, 

 "It may fairly be concluded, that the thickness of layers of stalag- 

 mite cannot be used as an argument in support of the remote age 

 of the strata below. "^ 



He repeated this opinion later.^ In 1896, Horace C. Hovey, 

 in writing of the stalagmites in Mammoth Cave, says, "Hence any 

 estimate as to their age in years is idle and fruitless. It is only 

 certain that they are very old."^ George Byron Gordon^ lists and 

 discusses the factors affecting lime deposition, and gave the opinion, 

 "It is evident, therefore, that the presence of a few inches of stalag- 

 mite is of little value in determining lapse of time." Charles 

 Peabody and W. K. Moorehead,^ in 1904, said, "Unfortunately 

 absolutely nothing can here be adduced with precision," in referring 

 to stalagmitic growth. Martel,^ in 1900, said of stalagmites, 

 " that their height cannot be considered in any way a contributing 

 element to chronological calculations." Oliver Cummings Far- 

 rington,^ in 1901, foresaw the possibiHty of estimating the age of 

 some stalagmites. 



' W. Boyd Dawkins (1874), pp. 38-41. 



^W. Boyd Dawkins, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, LX (1904), 374. 



3 Horace C. Hovey, Celebrated American Caverns (1896), pp. 94, 95. 



""Caverns of Copan" (1896-1902), Peabody Museum, Harvard University, 

 Memoirs, I, 11, 12, of the article on pp. 147, 148, of the volume. 



5 " Exploration of Jacob's Cavern," Bull. No. i, Dept. of Archaeology, Phillips 

 Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. 



^ La Spcleologie ou Science des Cavernes, Paris (1900), pp. 102, 103. 



'"Observations on Indiana Caves," Field Columbian Museum, Pub. 53, Geol. 

 Series, I (1901), No. 8. 



