Small Temporary Glaciers of the Vosges. 229 



examination of the different obstacles which opposed the de- 

 scending progress of the n^v^. 



*' The melting caused by the heat radiated from the trunk 

 of a tree, ought to have formed a circle concentric to the 

 tree, as is seen on a plain ; but on an inclined plane, the 

 circle produced is not concentric, but eccentric ; the move- 

 ment impressed on the neve from above, makes it descend 

 till it touch the trunk ; the moss and lichens with which it 

 is sometimes covered, are bruised and rubbed on this side, 

 while, on the opposite surface of the trunk, these cryptogams 

 have preserved all the delicacy of their forms. We have re- 

 marked this arrangement of the eccentric melting of the snow 

 around many hundreds of trees. Whether the ground be ex- 

 posed to the north or south, the same thing takes place."* 



On the following months we continued our examinations at 

 different points of the Vosges chain, where the snow was still 

 accumulated in sufficiently large quantities to enable us to 

 carry out the same observations. A second note, inserted in 

 the Comptes Bendus of the Institute, gives the following 

 details : — 



*' On the 15th of June, there were still numerous patches 

 of snow on the eastern sides of the Vosges, from the Rothen- 

 bach (1319 m.), as far as Hoheneck (1366 m.), in the bottom 

 of the small valley of Munster. The'presence of snows in 

 this locality, at this season of the year, is explained by the 

 manner in which they have been driven thither in winter by 

 the violent west winds. These winds forced them to accu- 

 mulate in the circuses of the opposite sides, which separate 

 the culminating points. 



'* Some of these patches were at this time reduced to a few 

 square metres ; the largest still presented a surface from 

 4000 to 5000 square metres. The declivities on which they 

 lay had a great inclination, a mean of upwards of 45 degrees ; 

 they were true precipices. 



" Upon examining these snows attentively, I found the 

 upper part formed of large grains of neve. It was from 25 

 to 30 centimetres thick, offering considerable resistance, and 



* Ed. Collomb, Lettre a M. E. de Beaumont (Comytea Rendus, t. xx., p. 1305). 

 VOL. XLII. NO. LXXXIV.— APRIL 1847. Q 



