, 1866-08-27

censctt while yet the volume Of water car
Eied " those channels greatly exceeded that
which corresponds to the area Of the second
bottom south or to the bottom psairies of
Missouri.
3fr. HiIgard was followed by Professor
Hungertord, who said the difficulty in the.
settlement OF the question Vas: first, at
tempting to locate too many geological
one Geological cause more results than con1d
possibly hare followed such cause The first
error is committed when We insist
uron egar.llng the great Lake and
river basins as having necessarily origi-
mated II the drift period, thus eomplicating
qrate solution Of the valley problem. The
formation Of the vallcy differs from the for
ration Of the drift, in that the one must
have been co-existant With all the historic
geological ages, and is still going on, while
the phenomena Of drift are limited In time.
ricl. The we'll known phenomena Of drift
ale not accounted for by the great icc-cap
theory, nor by the iceberg theory, nor By
the two together, bnt he thought, by tllefr
necessary combination with great secular
movements Of tie earth's crust, the motion
which Is caused by the suns heat. But, IN
trdcr 10 have expansion and contraction, it
Is necessary to hare q change Of tempera-
lure. The effect of the SUMS rays only i1enc-
tratcd some tlirty.tlye or forty feet. Mr.
llnrgerford continued his remarks at some
1cngill.
Professor G. .. Andrews then took the
floor and spoke OF the phenomena existing in
the stAte Of Ohio, II, the valleys Of tho scio-
~ and Muskingnn. rivers, ard on the streams
,nnde in the drift. Tie gravel was found II.
ing. in All inclined position, us II the waves
lad Wnslied II ltp and formed slopes.
Dr.. Sterry Hunt sAid that though rcsenl.
blnncek could lie traced between some 1,llcn.
on:ei,a 'f tic DRIFT and the results Of glacial
sesieM. wh}vl, arc tu,tnd IN alpine reyiens, NC
Atncr!rn far rcll:atc ir"'n mountains, and
where the geological conditions aru such
Us forbid tllr Eurrotitton that mum.
inlns ever llayc existed. Elevated
laadn'a.,,d; r'a1n's d" ,,, ~, mi, atlort' the me:
the accumulation OF glaciers under ordinary
circumstances, aud the hypothesis If Il great
land giaclcr !trrcnr, demands nj, ast ruol.i.
ical agency, which 1T ccssal In distnnt periods
IL snrlu'tcd to have covered tlls eircunItolHr
regions With MI !n:illc'ssc lec,caI', extending
vrhEo.l and tlrft hive belonged 10 all cpocl,s,
fl'An tho time wl,tn monOu,fan Sal.rSutinm
cenc!omtrntc beds wcIc fund, tn tint wt,cn
Estnt valleys were snt ont of .Ae i4nrontan,
In Minnesota certainly earlier than tlc trias,
aid probably In the pnltpzuIe a.c. Here We
yonian sandstone, wl!o.e mines give tho;
red kaatstbMc Of stekoz"lc age, md finally
tntlut wllel1 product he rost-tertiary drift.
IT Is an agency belonging TO no one period,
hut OF all ngcs, and has alternately destroy
I'd ard e1eatrd great formations Vi mccil4ut-
cal sediments.
The glacial phenomena, ns seen In the 1tl-
strsltiflctl drifts Of North Alnet!cn, fc min.
tsiHed to lie submarine, and belonging to
different dates In the Iost-tertiary period,
locally aud irrcgniArly distributed u1nong
ktra.itied Submarine c!ass md sands. He
distinguished between these and the drills Of
other parts Of the continent, which have
been subsequently modified by lake and river
nctiGn and rearrAngcd in strita, often with
:oseil woods and bu.ics. lie alluded to tho
great lines Of bo,llders found in New Eng
and, Which lie thought cnull only he re-
rlaccd on the hypothesis Of floating glaciers
dropping tlclE freight as they meltclfn their
scn'hwnra course, and he repeated the
opinion, expressed by him III the de-
late Of Wednesday, that all the drif
phenomena In this iart ot North America,
with perhaps some local exceptions, were
due 10 polar Ice trurgllt southwark by
ccealfc currents, oyer Il huff submerged coll
. tlEent, wiieEc, often stranded. they gave rise
IL innny phenomena Stimulating. those pro-
t1nccd by land glaciers, The action along
tile st. Lawrence valley was described, and
the evidence which shows that the great st.
Lawrence basin WAS invaded by MI ngency
which ran from tho present gulf southwest
ward for several hundred miles, up in what
Is now an Inclined plane, which no hypothesis
Of land glaciers could ever account tor, hut
which is readily explained By the Arctic
current running southwest over u slowly
rising continent, Of which the northeastern
PORTIONS emerged last.