I20 VERNON C. ALLISON 



DIVISION INTO THIRTY-TWO TYPES 



Each of the thirty-two types of stalagmites will have five 

 factors affecting its growth. Some of these factors will have the 

 upper limit and some of the factors will have the lower limit — it all 

 depends upon the conditions surrounding the growth of the stalag- 

 mite. If these Hmits are substituted in the two foregoing formulas, 

 a relative circumference and a relative rate of vertical growth can be 

 calculated for each of the thirty-two types of stalagmites. 



Also, by taking the two limits of the five factors as listed above, 

 a "two-branching" or "dichoic" scale can be constructed, by means 

 of which it is possible to tell the type that a given stalagmite 

 belongs to, after first determining whether each of the five factors 

 has the upper limit or the lower limit. This "dichoic" or "two- 

 branching" scale now affords a way of finding out the type a 

 stalagmite belongs to and, also, by means of the preceding method, 

 to find out its relative circumference and its relative rate of vertical 

 growth. 



In Ingleborough Cave, Devonshire, England, there is a stalagmite 

 called the "Jockey Cap," on account of its shape. This "Jockey 

 Cap" stalagmite has been under observation since 1839, and its 

 circumference growth and its rate of vertical growth are well 

 known. By taking advantage of the measurements and comments 

 of Dawkins^ and Gordon,^ the limits of the five factors governing 

 the growth of the "Jockey Cap " can be ascertained, and accordingly 

 the "Jockey Cap" can be classified by means of the "dichoic" 

 scale as belonging to type 4. The mature circumference of the 

 "Jockey Cap" may be estimated from the rate of circumference 

 increase noted by Dawkins,^ and using this mature circumference 

 and the known rate of vertical growth of the "Jockey Cap," the 

 actual circumference and the actual rate of vertical growth of 

 type 4 becomes known. By the use of the actual circumference 

 and actual rate of vertical growth of type 4 as a base, the actual 

 circumference and actual rate of vertical growth for each of the 

 thirty-two types can be obtained by means of the relative circum- 

 ference and the relative rate of vertical growth previously calculated. 



' Op. cit., pp. 38-41, 442, and Appendix II. 



^ Loc. cit. 3 op. cit., pp. 40, 442, and Appendix II. 



