284 M. Renoir on the Glaciers of the Voigea. 



As to polished rocks, I have traced them in the valley of 

 Hasli, and in that of the Rhone, from its origin to near Bex. 

 I have uniformly observed, that they lose something of their 

 polish, and that the striae disappear more and more in propor- 

 tion as they recede from the origin of the glaciers. 



I took all possible care not to confound the ancient moraines 

 with mbunds formed by water and the deposits produced by 

 avalanches ; and I have settled in the conviction, that glaciers, 

 of much greater extent and force than any now existing, for- 

 merly occupied the valleys of the Alps throughout their whole 

 extent. This first conviction was of the greatest value to me, 

 and the observations I had made, and the knowledge I had ac- 

 quired, were indispensable for the solution of the question I 

 had charged myself with. I asked myself whether, after having 

 ascertained the former existence of glaciers at the foot of the 

 Alps, at only four hundred and a few odd feet of absolute 

 height, it would be surprising again to find traces of them at 

 the same height at the foot of the Vosges, and, a fortiori^ at 

 the height of 1250 metres on the hallon of Alsace ? The re- 

 collection of what I had seen among these mountains, would 

 perhaps be sufficient to establish a comparison between their 

 appearances and those I had observed in the Alps, and thus 

 determine my opinion ; but, in order to do this with more cer- 

 tainty, I now return to the consideration of the former of these 

 two chains. 



The valley of St Amarin, entered by Thann, presented me 

 with nothing remarkable till reaching the village of Moosch, 

 where are to be seen a great number of granitic blocks, dis- 

 posed on the summit, and on the west and south-west sides, of 

 a mountain of transition- slate, known by the name of La Tete^ 

 at the bottom of which the road passes. Some of these blocks, 

 resting on one of their small faces, appear to have been depo- 

 sited tranquilly. They have been little rolled, and it may be 

 observed, that they are generally deposited in the direction of 

 the great Valley. 



Higher up, we come to Wesserling, built on an extensive 

 deposit composed of sand, pebbles, and large blocks more or 



