Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-22

q waters flowing into the TWO rivers by IN
e two sides which meet become til
It center OF the river. So it is with tn
d glaciers, as they meet here. IN
u right side Of this one, and the lei
3 side Of this one, unite; and we have noS
r here a mas Of hoiuders which are in th
{ center Of the glacier, and which move a
the Iate Of the snow; so that all the ID Is
= materials which accumulate here upol
: the snow are now moving rapidly down
= ward at the rate Of nearly foot da'
! during the summer, or less than tha
= during the winter, at an average rate o
I $50 feet in the year; so thatin ten year
J they will have moved y, 900 feet. YOl
r see therefore, how rapidly these boul
{ ders will be transported to the lower enc
{ of the glacier and fall over its edge anC
terminate here as a concentric wall o.
] loose materials. These accumulati0ns O
loose materials from q glacier have re
ceived names. They are called UOraifs
We have here upon one side a lateral
, morain we have here another lateral
morain and these two latter morains
form in the center of a medal mOrain
and that medal MORAN, falling over
the lower end Of the glacier, derived
from the union of two lateral morsins,
forms what is called terminal mOrian.
Suppose this ice melts away. We should
see the materials strangely arranged on
the bottom Of the valley. We should
have a large accumulation of material on
the sides of the valley, and not in the
center. We should have everywhere
angular bolu9ers, and We should have a
wall across The valley at the lower end
of the glacier, and we should have in
the center q wall Of equal boulders. dis
tinct, perhaps, from the others. Now,
suppose the mountain was granite, the
whole of this row Of boulders would be
granite. Suppose we have here black
slate, the whole of this would contain
black slate. And suppose that here
there were red pOrphyry, then
these boulders would be Of red
pOrDhyry. Thus We should have
three morains of different character,
parallel to one another, one Of black
slate, one Of granite, and one Of por-
phyry; and at the lower end, trans
verse wall across the valley, composed
Of these various materials combined to-
/ gether. Another thing takes place, as
/ the glacier moves in this manner on
ward. Fragments Of rock slip between
/ the ice and the rock and we have a
similar and not an incOnsiderable accu-
mutation of such materials between the
/ ice on the bottom Of the valley and its
sides. AS the glacier moves on it is set
with stones on its whole under surface
and thus it rasps or CRATES upon tie
| rocks over which it moves, SO that a
/ glacier coming down a valley is like
/ file set with diamonds, which are con-
/ staHtly grating upon the rocks,
constantly growing, furrowing poll
| ishing and scratching the whole surface
which is in contact with the onward
moving glacier. The effects Of this me-
chanical agency are so peculiar that they
are easily distinguished from any ether
kind Of abrasion. I have frequently gone
under the glacier. [ have penetrated
under them upon the side, from the
lower extremity, and through cracks i'm
the mass, when it was sometimes gaping
sufficiently to enable one to descend into
them. And have seen, wherever there
was such an opportunity, how eXten-
siYely the lower surface of the glacier is
studded with fragments of rock sci in the
ice in a manner which prevented their
moving. Thus carried forward with the
glacier, you see what q tremendous me
chanical effect it will produce It will
polish down the rock, and grind up the
minor particles until they are re-
dueed to powder, when they consist Of
softer rocks ground easily by pressure
Harder stones set like diamonds IN the
ice will make scratches, aud those
scratches will be deeper and longer in
proportion as the harder fragments Of
rock are larger, and occupy more space
so that moving bodily they may make
deeper furrows. All this may be seen
under the glaciers, and sometimes under
peculiar. circumstances, after a more
than usual motion. l have found the
powder resulting from the grinding Just
in advance of the mass whiCh had pro-
duced the motion remaining there in
front in the morning, after a heavy frost,
SO that | can say / have seen the glacier
at work doing this kind OF work which
is so characteristic. Suppose this whole
mass melted away, and what should we
see? The surface of the rock polished in
a way which nothing else could pro-
duce; that polished surface would
exhibit small scratches resulting
from the small particles of hard
material; it would exhibit deeper
scratches produced by the action Of
larger pebbles, and il would exhibit
larger furrows resulting from the action
Of larger masses Of rock. All this is
easily recognized, and you see I have
therefore two signs by which the pres
ence Of the GLACIER may be traced, even
if the ice shoulEa disappear; one, the pc
Culiar accumulation of loose materials .
of rocks that have come down from the
mountains and accumulated on the edge
Of the ice and upon the surface, and the
peculiar kind of grinding which the sur
face of the rock exhibits from its contact
with the ice. Historically we have the
evidence that the glaciers have not al
ways been limited within the boundaries
they now occupy. The travellers on the
Alps in the thirteenth, fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, and more particularly
the investigators of the sixteenth century, .
who had already begun to explore the
Alps to 81 .dy the phenomenal of the noun
taiBs, have left US records of the eXteu-
sion of glaciers within the Alps, and I
their statements show that where we
have now glaciers, there We're larger
glaciers formerly. According to their
statements we can trace the cGucentric F.
terminal moraiu beyond the present .
boundaries of the glaciers. To make a
long story short, l would say that these
phenomena have been traced across the
valley OF Switzerland to the summit of
the Jura, and that we have the evidence
that once glaciers occupied the whole of
this extended plain across the valley of
Switzerland and abutted against the
Jura. Prof. Guyiot, who has studied
the transportation Of boulders across the f
plains more infinitely than any other,
has demonstrated that each valley
from the Alps has on each side
rows of boulders, which extend
across the plain of Switzerland, from
the Alps to the Jura, 50 that the
facts which I ascertained within the
Alps, and those which Guyiot ascer- .
tanned while in the plain of Switzerland, /.
coincide TO show that this whole surface
of country was once occupied by ice, and I.
we know the course il has followed by
the rows which these different sets of
bOulders present across the valley of
Switzerland. Now, the history of this I
study had gone fhus far when it occurred 7.
to me that Switzerland could not have
been alone so much colder than the rest
of the world when theadjoining country
shared the temperature which prevailed
there to the extent of making these
great glaciers possible. When the valley
of Switzerland, between the Jura and
the Alps, was full Of ice to a thickness Of .
5000 feet, the plains of Germany, of
France and Of Italy could not have been
enjoying the temperature now prevail
ing there, nor could the north OF Europe
have enjoyed that climate. Il was then ! :
thought there was enough in all these
facts to make il probable that | should
find the traces of glaciers in England
As early as 1910 | started on a hunting
excursion for the tracks of glaciers
through the British islands, and no
sooner had I reached the highlands Of
Westmoreland and afterw ards proceeded
TO those Of Scotland and ireland, than / .
found everywhere the same signs Of
glaciers. the same marks, the same poll
ished surfaces, the same lateral mOrains
the same concentric mariaus IT the foot
of the glacier-in fact, all the evidences
that the low land of England, where
the snow never remains in summer
was once occupied by glaciers Of suai-
cient dimensions TO have reached the
sea shore. [Applause. Now We have
proved why other parts of the world
must have been cold, for Europe alone
could not have been cold, and North
America enjoy q warmer temperature
In 1916. [ came TO this continent, and
the first walk l took in Nova
Scotia, a few hours af'er the arrival Of the
steamer on which l was 4 passenger at
Halifax. I saw the we'll known tracks of
glaciers, marks all over the hills lad.
nlause. l became satisfied then that
The climate of the earth had undergone
a stupendous change, and it was not
local phenomenon, or the higher eleva-
ton Of the Alps, as it was first supposed,
which had held the glaciers of Switzer-