on iJie Erratic Phenomena of Scandinavia. 125 



for in these two memoirs the author has not come to a con- 

 clusion. Formerly, he admitted a single current,* which ex- 

 tended from Spitzbergen to Germany ; now, I suppose that 

 he must admit ten different currents, successive or simulta- 

 neouSjt running towards the four cardinal points, according 

 to the mean direction of his arrows. The author not having 

 explained himself, I prefer to wait till he has himself pointed 

 out the consequences of his observations, and shewn how 

 one or more diluvial currents better account for the facts ob- 

 served, than the supposition of the ancient extension of gla- 

 ciers. 



Reply to the Objections to the Ancient Extension of Glaciers 

 among the Alps. 



M. Durocher terminates his memoir by drawing a parallel 

 between the erratic phenomena of the North, and those of the 

 Alps, Pyrenees, and Vosges. He admits the analogy of the 

 effects produced ; but as he does not take into account the 

 powerful action of the sea during the time of the immersions 

 and emersions of the land of Scandinavia, he carries the 

 analogy, in my opinion, much too far. In the Alps, Pyre- 

 nees, and Vosges, the aqueous effects are confined to such as 

 resulted from the melting of glaciers, and the incessant action 

 of atmospheric agents. In Scandinavia, there were, besides 

 these, the powerful effects of the sea, which has covered, at 

 different periods, a considerable portion of the Swedish plain. 

 This part of the memoir contains a multitude of observations 

 and details already known, and objections long since refuted. 

 Thus, for example, M. Durocher draws attention to the fact, 

 that, at the contraction of valleys the striaD are ascending. 



Let him visit the glacier of the Aar, and he may touch, at 

 the lower part of the promontory which supports M. Agassiz's 

 pavilion, the identical striae rising 64° from before backwards. 

 He will again meet with the same phenomenon at 8 kilome- 

 tres distance, at the lower contraction of the small valley 

 of Raeterichsboden, where the striae are inclined 48°, on a 



* Comptes Rendus de TAcadamie des Sciences, t. xiv., p. 109. January 17, 

 1842. 



t See his Map. 



