700 MEMOIR OF GUYOT. 



strata of the opposite sides of a tran verse valley." He compared the 

 stratification to that of certain coarsely schistose limestones.* 



He remarks, in conclusion : " We should say that the layers were 

 not annual layers, but rather a series made day by day from small suc- 

 cessive snowfalls that were melted in part by the sun of the day, and 

 covered each night by the thick frost-glazing which envelops all the 

 snowy summits of the high Alps."t 



He further observes that " these beds were evidently formed at a 

 greater height and in a diflereut position from that where observed." 

 He adds, in closing his remarks on the subject : " Do the beds, at first 

 horizontal, or at least parallel to the surface of the glacier, accomplish, 

 during its movement, evolutions, as yet imperfectly understood, analo- 

 gous to those before mentioned [that is, those occasioned by differences 

 in velocity of the middle, sides, and bottom, owing to unequal friction]. 

 This is a point which should have further examination, with observa- 

 tions as minute, numerous, and universal as possible. Unfortunately a 

 thick fog and threatening weather forced me to stop work before I had 

 ascertained whether this structure was general for the whole mass of 

 the glacier at that altitude, or whether restricted to that locality not- 

 withstanding the proof of so large an extension of it." 



Guyot had some confidence in his conclusions, but he also felt, as he 

 states, the importance of more detailed investigation in order to decide 

 on their real value. 



On the 1st of December, 1841, Guyot communicated the results of his 

 observations of 1838, so far as relates to the " blue bands," at a meeting 

 of the Keuchatel Society of Natural Sciences, "reading some passages 

 from his note written in 1838." This communication contains the addi- 

 tional fact that the layers of the stratification in the Gries glacier were 

 inclined about 45 degrees, were nearly transverse to the principal gla- 

 cier, and appeared also to have sinuosities due to lateral compression.^ 



Agassiz, in his Syst^me Glaciare (1847), cites from Guyot's manu- 

 script (then deposited with the Neuchatel Society) the part relating to 

 the " blue bands" (the only part he ever cited), and in this citation there 

 is a paragraph on the inclination or pitch of the layers, with Guyot's 

 additional suggestion that the pitch of the layers looked as if a result 



* His words are : "Stratifi<5 h la fa^on de certains calcaires grossiferement schis- 

 teux," and he explains it himself as implying a lamellar structure. 



tin the original, the words are: "On aurait dit, non pas des couches annuelles, 

 mais une s^rie de couches plutdt journaliferes de neige tomh6e successivement par 

 petites quantit^s, puis fondue en partie par lesoleil de la journ^e, et couvertechaque 

 nuit de cefc ^pais verglas qui, au-dessus de la region des glaces, recouvre toutes les 

 8ommit6s ueigeuses des hautes Alpes." 



t The report of the meeting of the Neuch&tel Society is contained in the Verhand- 

 lungen of the " Schweiz. Nat. Gesellschaft," Altdorf, 1842. The abstract of Guyot's 

 couinuinication there given (pp. 199-200) says: "La position de ces couches etait in- 

 clinfie d'environ 45° dans le sens de la pente g^n^raledu glacier. Leur dii'ection sem- 

 blait presque transversale A celle du glacier principal, mais longitudinale ficelle de 

 son penchant meridional. Elle prfeentait quelquefois des sinuosit^s qui semblaient 

 ua efiet de compression lateral®." 



