1871-72.] MAGELLAN^ GL.ICJKRS. 187 



the exact distribution of marine animals at the different 

 zones of depth in the oceans can be expected. 



The most interesting geological parts of the voyage, 

 especially for Agassiz, were the visits to glaciers in the 

 Strait of Magellan and in Smithe's Channel. There 

 he found, almost at seaJevel, great glaciers like the 

 Aar, Aletch, and Rhone glaciers of Switzerland. The 

 marks of RocJies montonnccs, moraines, scratched peb- 

 bles, and boulders were seen, and ancient traces of 

 glacial action found in many places, on the southern 

 extremity of the South American continent, which was 

 a great satisfaction to the old landlord of the " Hotel 

 des Neuchatelois " in the Bernese Oberland; and the 

 discoverer of the " Ice epoch " had the pleasure of 

 seeing his prediction in his Discourse at Neuchatel in 

 1837 verified, even in the Southern Hemisphere. As 

 he said on his return to Cambridge, " If I had done 

 nothing else but see and study the glacial phenomena 

 at the Magellan Strait and among the Chiloe Islands, 

 this would have amply paid me for all my trouble and 

 fatigue." What does not geology owe to such an ob- 

 server ? To him, and to him alone, is due the discovery 

 of the existence of glaciers in Scotland, England, and 

 Ireland, and their extension over all New England, 

 and in the province of Ceara in Brazil, and in Chili. 

 Seldom does a savant have the opportunity to verify, 

 on the field, in both hemispheres, observations made in 

 the limited area of such a small country as Switzerland. 

 Such a success was only possible to the foresight and 

 genius of an Agassiz. 



At Talcahuana Agassiz disembarked, and thence 



