. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Steip Prok in the Ice of Glaciers. 89 tight wedging which higher up it received laterally. It is not easy to convey without a model a clear idea of the forms of surface here intended, and which yet require considerable cor- rection. I may mention, however, that the glacier of the Rhone, which I have carefully examined, presents a structure in con- formity with the view thus developed. It will be recollected by all who have seen that magnificent mass, that it pours in colossal fragments over the rocky barrier which separates the Gallenstock from the valley
. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Steip Prok in the Ice of Glaciers. 89 tight wedging which higher up it received laterally. It is not easy to convey without a model a clear idea of the forms of surface here intended, and which yet require considerable cor- rection. I may mention, however, that the glacier of the Rhone, which I have carefully examined, presents a structure in con- formity with the view thus developed. It will be recollected by all who have seen that magnificent mass, that it pours in colossal fragments over the rocky barrier which separates the Gallenstock from the valley of the Rhone, and having reached the last-named valley, it spreads itself across and along it pretty freely—much as a pailful of thickish mortar would do in like circumstances. The form into which it spreads is rudely represented in the annexed figure. In this particular case, even the strongest partisans of the dilata- tion theory will hardly deny, that the accumulated ice descending from the glacier cataract A would form a centre of pressure at C, and that the lines of equal pres- sure would be found in the direc- tion of the dotted lines, following nearly the periphery of the gla- cier. Now these dotted lines pre- cisely trace out the course of the veined structure alluded to; and, moreover, they bend more and more forwards as we proceed from the centre of pressure C, especially in the direction of D, the line of greatest inclination of the bed, and down which gravity urges the icy mass. The front of the glacier, about E D F, presents the fallacious appearance of horizontal strata, as in the Aar Glacier; but these are found to dip inward at an angle of 10" or 15°, which angle continually increases as we approach the heart of the glacier, rising to 40°, 50°, 60°, and even 70°, as we approach C. It cannot be doubted, that these facts are so far favourable to the view which we have taken, althouirh the establisliment of it would require far more extensive obser-. P
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