1 88 LOUTS AGASSfZ. [CHAP. vm. 



making in regard to temperature, progress of the mo- 

 raine, etc., often asking his opinion and advice. But 

 Forbes was as silent as a sphinx ; it was impossible 

 to draw from him a single remark or hint. This 

 impenetrability in a savant was new to Agassiz, who, 

 until then, had more or less easily charmed every scien- 

 tific man with whom he had come in contact. But 

 this time he had found one who would not yield to 

 his ingenuousness. During the three weeks spent by 

 Forbes at the " Hotel des Neuchatelois," he observed 

 everything around him, but said absolutely nothing, 

 even as regards his impressions. Agassiz's desire to 

 study the structure of glaciers led him to bore in the 

 glacier a hole 140 feet deep ; and he was also lowered, 

 supported simply by a rope, to a depth of 120 feet, 

 into an old "moulin' or well, to see how far through 

 the glaciers the laminated structure extended. This 

 veined structure was the only point referred to by 

 Forbes during his stay at the " Hotel des Neuchate- 

 lois." It had been observed previously by David 

 Brewster, Hugi, Bishop Rendu, Guyot, and Agassiz ; 

 but Forbes afterward claimed that it was he who first 

 called Agassiz's " attention to the fact that the ice of 

 glaciers is composed of vertical laminae, constituting a 

 true ribboned structure," 1 and raised a controversy, of 

 which we shall speak farther on. 



Several peaks were ascended by Agassiz during 

 Forbes's stay, among them the summit of the Ewig- 

 schneehorn ; with a visit to the Gauli glacier, a walk 

 over the " mer de glace de Viesch," and, finally, an 



1 "Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," January, 1842. 



