M. Renoir on (he Traces of Ancient Glaciers. 85 



course of the Neva, and formed a dike for it on its issuing 

 from the lake. The seat of these glaciers was probably among 

 the ramifications of the Scandinavian Alps of which M. Robert 

 speaks. 



With the exception of the seat of the glaciers, which can- 

 not be the same, we may perhaps apply all that has been said 

 to the line of blocks to be seen between Wol-Racoulskaia and 

 Copatchewskaia, on one of the banks of the Dvvina, and which 

 M. Robert himself calls a true moraine, composed of enormous 

 calcareous blocks scarcely rubbed on the angles, mingled with 

 other large primitive blocks, while none are to be seen on the 

 other bank. 



When large streams of water are unrestrained in their move- 

 ments, they spread the materials which they transport en 7?tasse, 

 and form a soil sometimes slightly undulated, but they have 

 never the tendency to form small hills. If, then, a great ca- 

 taclysm had taken place, it would have spread sand, pebbles? 

 and erratic blocks, if capable of transporting the latter, over 

 the great plains of Russia in a uniform manner. Now M. 

 Robert speaks of a sol d'alterrissemenl, which conlains a greater 

 or less quantity of rolled pebbles and erratic blocks, and which 

 is generally exitibited in small hills very close to each other ^ 

 Tvhich prevail bettveen the lakes Ladoga and Onega, and from 

 Ladei?ioie-F6le as far as Wytegra, a small system of monticules 

 which are the only hills to be seen between St Petersburgh and 

 Archangel, in a space of 300 leagues* This sol d^ atterrisse" 

 ment, and numerous small hills close to each other, are proba- 

 bly nothing else than moraines. Thus they are parallel with 

 each other, since M. Robert says that they run nearly in the 

 same direction as the limestone of Bourkowa : now this paral- 

 lelism is one of the characters of groups of moraines. The 

 same thing may be said of the ?iumerous small hills of yellowish 

 sand in tlie canton of Pargolowo, which likewise contains pri- 

 mitive blocks, since he remarked one of enormous size and 

 quadrilateral shape, scarcely rubbed on the edges, and resting 

 lightly on the sand. 



Should it be thought that the comparison we have made, 

 from a mere description, between the pebbly hills and lines of 

 blocks in Russia, and the remains of our ancient moraines, 

 is somewhat questionable, it will doubtless be found more cer- . 



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* Bulletin dc la i^9ci Jed GOologiquo ck FtanQo, t. xii pi 3l3. 



