168 Beport of the Researches of M. Agassis, 



accurate account being given of the nature of that pressure ; 

 and we were also in complete ignorance of the effects produced 

 by the air-bubbles contained in the ice, and the modifications 

 which they underwent. The crevices encountered in such 

 numbers in the region of the compact ice were regarded as the 

 effect of the tension of the mass ; but we had only a most 

 vague idea of the nature of this tension ; and we shall see in 

 the sequel, that even still there is great difficulty in explain- 

 ing their functions. The ice tables, the gravelly cones, and 

 the baignoires^ were formerly explained in a satisfactory man- 

 ner by the older Swiss naturalists, and among others by 

 the MM. de Saussure, Kuhn, and the elder Studer. MM. 

 Agassiz and Charpentier have added to this department a great 

 number of new observations. Still, however, many additional 

 ones were still required. The lamellar or ribbon structure in 

 the middle portions of the glacier had been but vaguely ob- 

 served, and no satisfactory explanation had yet been supplied. 

 No more had the cause of those singular holes, similar in form, 

 which are spread over all the surface of a glacier, and which 

 we shall subsequently describe under the name of meridian 

 holes, been discovered. Only an imperfect account had also been 

 given of the different varieties which the ice of one and the 

 same glacier frequently presents, upon a transverse section 

 from one of its banks to the other. Finally, the stratification 

 in ice, which is a very general phenomenon, had been only 

 loosely described by some, and its existence had been altoge- 

 ther denied by others. 



The Neve has been especially the object of the persevering 

 study of modern observers, and the results of their investiga- 

 tions are worthy of the greatest attention. MM. Agassiz 

 and Charpentier have both devoted a chapter to its considera- 

 tion in their respective works. The latter of these gentlemen 

 particularizes two kinds, namely, the higher and lower Neve. 

 But, in spite of all this, much still remains to be done in this 

 favourite department. How, for example, are the granules of 

 the Neve formed I What series of transformations do these 

 granules undergo in changing into ice, v>hich becomes more 

 and more compact, rendering this ice of the Neve more and 

 more transparent? How does this variety of ice contain 



