Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-02-03
PROE. c. II. HIzCHCOCk'S
LECTURES.

The opening lecture of this celebrated geolo-
gist's course, under the auspices of the Y. M.
c. A., we simply mentioned in our last.
good audience, the Lyceum being well filled,
and was introduced by the President of the
Association, Mr.. A. Pratt The subject of the
evening "Niagara Falls was selected as be-
liar.
The length and breath Of the river was given
and its elevation, as also that of lakes Erie
and Ontario, with careful description Of the
contour of the country. Reasons were given
for the now accepted theories of the age Of the
falls and the indications existing of its once
having different course from the present.
The cause of the whirlpool was also shown in
the discovered exis,ance of an ancient gorge
running to St. Davids, distant three miles,
now filled with sand and gravel. Indications
Of the non.existance Of Lakes Huron and Erie
in earlier times were also explained from the
discovery by Prof. Spencer of an ancient chan
mel across the Canadian plateau. Figures
presented by the lecturer as deduced from the
rock formations Of Niagara were given in justi-
fcation of the belief that the earth must have
been in existence for immense periods prior to
the existence Of man.
On Monday evening last, the 29th inst, not
withstanding the inclement nature of the
weather, quite number Of our thinking y
4 IL ~
sented upon "The Ice-age" or glacial period,
of which the following is synopsis, for which
we are indebted to The Friend.
Through mos, of geological time the climate
had been tropical or warm-temperate. Just
before the present age the northern hemisphere
witnessed time Of great cold, and more than
third of the North American continent was
covered ny an immense sheet Of ice. The
theory Of polar ice-cap is inadmissable
| since the places where the most ice has been
accumulated correspond with those regions re-
ceving the greatest precipitation Of moisture.
At present the south frigid zone approaches
nearer the equator than the northern. Hence
some authors think it is passing through Its
glacial period, and that every twenty thousand
years the polar regions are alternately subjected
to those frigid influences.
Descriptions Of existing glaciers in Switzer-
hand and Greenland were given, illustrated by
numerous diagrams. Glaciers we've rivers ol
ice mo,ionless tonentswith silent cataracts.
The movement may be three or four feet day
in Switzerland and sixty feet per day in Green
land. The earth and rocks mixed together i
the mo,ains, and may be in front or on the
sides OF beneath the glacier. Greenland Is
mostly covered by an ice sheet over one thou
sand miles long, diseharging by some thirteen
channels into Bafins' Bay. The pieces Of ice
breaking of are icebeIgs, one-ninth Of thei'
bulk only being in sight. These bergs trans
port rocks and stones in great abundance,
dropping them where the ice mel,s Tyson''
party OF eighteen persons were transported
eighteen hundred miles in six months time
upon ice foes before they were rescued.
| Eastern America is covered by material,
resembling those found about existing glaciers.
The lodges are broken, their surfaces scratched
and the fragments transported hundreds Of
miles in some cases. The Labrador peninsula
seems to have been the central area Of the
transportation most Of the materials have
been carried to the southwest. Over New
England the movement was southeast Ths
edge Of the ice sheet has been carefully traced
oai quite recently; and il commences AZ Nan
,ucket al the east, passing westerly through
Long Island, New jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio
Indiana, Illinois, to near the junction Of the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. There Il turn,
northwest through Missouri, Kansas. Nebrask'
and Dakota into British Columbia This edge
Exhibits somewhere terminal moraincs. 4
claciated area Is to be found also in British