M. Renoir on tUe Glaciers of the Vosges. 285 



less rolled. This deposit has the form and position of a ter- 

 minal moraine, if we pay attention to the axis of the upper 

 part of this valley ; but, as it extends to some distance like a 

 table-cloth, it might likewise be regarded as a bank or deposit 

 formed by water, the more so as it occurs at a point where 

 the valley becomes greatly widened ; however, no trace of 

 stratification is here visible. What has determined my opi- 

 nion in favour of a moraine, independently of the particular 

 disposition of tlie large blocks and angular fragments, is the 

 discovery of beautiful polished surfaces with their striae, on the 

 right bank of the rivulet of Thur, at about a kilometer above 

 the great buildings of Wesserling. I ought, however, to add, 

 that, with the exception of these surfaces, which are of small 

 extent, and which have escaped the notice of those who pre- 

 ceded me, because they were not searching for them, this de- 

 posit, and that of which I am about to speak, are the most 

 equivocal of all that I have met with. 



At the opening of the transverse valley which descends from 

 the Col de Bussang into that of St Amarin, we meet with a new 

 collection of stones, which may likewise be taken for a bank, 

 but which seems to us, fi'om its form, and on account of the 

 polished surfaces of which we shall afterwards speak, to be, 

 with more propriety, regarded as the lateral moraine of a gla- 

 cier which descended from this transverse valley, proceeding 

 from the surrounding summits, such as Drumont, Tete de 

 Perche, or even perhaps from the ballon of Giromagny, which, 

 by uniting to that of the glacier of the great valley, descend- 

 ing, probably, from the great Veutron or the high summits of 

 the other side, would have formed a median moraine ; very 

 short, it is true, because the two glaciers united immediately, 

 as is proved by a terminal moraine to be seen a little further 

 down, imperfectly preserved, but recognizable at its two extre- 

 mities. 



Continuing to ascend the valley, we soon find, above the 

 village of Oderen, the remains of a new moraine, disturbed by 

 waters, but still well characterised. But it is immediately be- 

 low the village of Gruth, or rather, at the commencement of 

 the village, that a beautiful terminal moraine is to be seen in, 



VOL. XXIX. NO LVIII. OCTOBER 1840. U 



