Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-04-17
GIacier.s e1,,a and Tceber.,s: |. ! !, !:

DIR. Isaac /. Hayes, the Arctic explorer,
who has lately issued an attractive volume
OF Arctic explorations, delivered an address
last evening before the Long Island His
torical Society, at the chapel of the Packer
Institute, on JOralOmon street, Brooklyn
Tue subject-Greenland Glaciers and Ice
bergs-Was treated in vivid and pie-l
turesque manner which received marked
attention. The substance of the lecture is
given below: @A - !
TO begin then at the beginning-the ice
befgis formed upon the land of mountain
shows; 1t is composed of the hardest and
most transparent ice, and like the ship that
1sIbnilt TO Fiheit deep, it is launched into
the great sea ON stupendous natural ways
The iceberg Of the Arctic seas has its
birthplace and cradle on the mountains of
Greenland alone. -g----
Greenland may indeed hesregarded as
vast Feseryoirlof ice. Upon the slopes of its
lofty hills, the downy snowflake has be-
come a hardened crystal, and incre lsings
little by little, from year to year, and from
century toecentuEy, u broad cloak OF frozen
vapor has at length completely Overspread
the land, and from every side there pour
hundreds Off crystal streams into the ocean.
1dThe manner of this glacier growth, be-
ginning in some remote geological epoch,
When Greenland, 5nursed in warmth and
sntsshfile,s was covered with vegetation, is
somewhat singular. 7a9 =
The principle of glacier growth is, how
ever the. same in all quartersaot the globe
where glaciers exist; and the subject has
long been one of profound scientific inqli-
~ and speculation. The field of research
has been hitherto very limited, being con-.
fl4edmainIy to the Swiss Alps-the explor-
ers of which region have made the glaciers
of Chaumoni. Grindelwald- aud Aar as
familiar in works OF science as in Murray's
Hand Book. -
Almost every explorer of Alpine glaciers
has formed the theory of their growth and
origins We have the "Expansion Theory
of Schaucher, announced as early as the
year 1705;, the .:Duutation Theory" OF
Charpentier; the sliding Theory of Saus
sure; the Theory of Rendeau;o the wi
Theory of Forbes; and lastly, the Theory
of TyndalL.", One of the first to throw i'm
portant light upon the subject was Rem
deau, Bishop Of Annecy, who published the
results of his experiments in 184l.
This distinguished and careful observer
prefaeed the paper announcing his discoV-
cries with a reflection upon the accumula-I
ton of the mountain SHOWS. These SHOWS
are partly converted into water, which
descends1 to the ocean, and partly into a.
condition which results in ice. The accu-
mutation, thus formed, Rendeau estimates
to equal in the Alps, So inches annually,
which would make the Alpine mountains
400 feet higher in a century, and 1900 feet
higher in thousand. years. IA. 5l-.ssz .
Now it Is evident that nothing like this
occurs in nature. The conserving will of
the Creator has employed for the perform
ance of His work the great law of cireula-l
tiOn, which, strictly examined, is found
everywhere to reproduce itself The wa
ters circulate from, the ocean to the air,
where they form clouds from the air to
the earth in the form of dews and rains,
and SHOWS; from the earth back again to
the ocean, through the great rivers which
have gathered up the smaller streams from
every hill side and valley. tHi2
+ The law of circulation is in the Alps in
thellOf6y Himalayas.; in the Andes; in the
mountains of Norway and Greenland, the
same as in the lower and warmer regions
OF the earth, where the rivers drain the
surface water to the sea. A glacier is in
effect but flowing. stream of frozen water,
and thes.'river system of the temperate
and equatorial zones, become the glacier
systems of the Arctic and Antarctic Ia5eT
The snow falling upon the mountains is
converted Into ice and the ice, strange
though iG seems, is moEable--by what eX-
scsaaprinciple of movement, or by what
correlation of forces, the philosophers have
NOT yet decided to their mutual satisfac-
ton; but it is nevertheless true; great
frozen flood Is pouring down the east and
west slopes of Greenland; what is gained
in height by one years freezing is lost by
body. iata ~ 81 siiisa 81 ryrlfoDu t'isp g.'1s
When long ages ago, after pouring over
the sloping land it finally reached the coast,
and looked down the bay which it was Ill
tiDIalely to fiji up, its face was perhaps hum
dreds of feet high. = .''ti
Gradually it sank beneath the line of
water as it flowed onward; and now, it has
sunk almost beneath the waves. la6 2"
8 And here let me now call your attention
to the fact that fresh ice floating in salt
water has above to below the proportion of
ole 70 seven-that is, only one-eighth of
the mass floats above the surface. 1t will
thus be seen that, as this natural equali-
brium is destroyed by a disproportiOnate
quantity below the surface, the upward
pressure exerted by the water must ulti-
mateIy become very great; and at length
this force is sufficiently powerful to break
Of. q fragment OF greater or less size, which,
rising with a roaring sound, resembling
the lOudest thunders of heaven, and with a
c0Hn1nOtion Of the waters which may be
felt tor leagues, gains at length, after many
oscillations its true level, and, floating
quietly away with the current, is called an
iceberg. .zslssaa5H s4.gg.tsaL. ..ss. i.ssa
And this iceberg drifts about for years
and vears-the sport of winds and currents
land. little by little, it melts away andr
mingles with the ocean.
And thus the frozen Glacier river has
fulfilled its part in the great law OF circu-
lation and change.
The dew drop, distilled upon the trOphic
palm leaf, falling to the, earth, has reap
Deared IN the gurgiing spring Of the