After referring briefly to the part wLich moun- 

 tains play as eleaienls in the earth's physio- 

 graphy (helpiog to determine climatic differences, 

 the distribution of rainfall, the size and flow of 

 rivers, the limitation of floral and faunal areas) 

 beside directly affecting human attairs by 

 their influence on national characteristics, on 

 religion, poetry and art, on wars and commerce, 

 and Anally as being the chief source of mineral 

 ■wealth. Dr. Bailey went on to give a comparative 

 description of the three great mountain systems 

 of America: the Laurent ian, the Appalachian and 

 the Cordilleran, or Rocky Mountain, systems. 



Of these the Laurentian was described as being 

 at tbe same time the oldest and the lowest, in- 

 cluding the belt of broken land which, in the 

 form of a gigantic V, stretches from Labrador to 

 Ontario, and thence to the Arctic Sea, enclosing 

 between its arras the depression of Hudson's Bay. 

 It thus forms the backbone of this Canada of 

 ours, and is especially interesting as being one of 

 the earliest of the centres from which the con- 

 tinent began to grow, and as having been prob- 

 ably continuously above the ocean from the 

 earliest times. Thus, through unnumbered ages, 

 it has been the theatre cf atmospheric denuda- 

 tion, and what we now see of it is but the 

 remnant of what it once was. Indeed, a close 

 study of its denuded folds and of the great faults 

 or dislocations by which it has been affected, 

 alike prove the extent of its degradation, and 

 lead us to believe that originally the system may 

 well have borne comparison with the loftiest of 

 existing chams. 



The Appalachian or Alleghany system was next 

 referred to as stretching from Gaspe to the Caro- 

 linas, and forming the eastern wall of the con- 

 tinent. 1 hough hardly so long as the Laurtntiau 

 system, it embraces a far greater number of sub- 

 ordinate chains (such as the Shickshocks of Gaspe, 

 the Notre Dame range of Quebec, the Green and 

 White Mts. of New Englmd. the HiKhlands of 

 New York, the Blue Kidge of Virginia, etc.) and 

 includes some much higher summits, such as Mt. 

 Washington in New Hampshire. It is also more 

 complex in structure, involving the results of 

 many mountain-making movements, but rot 

 completing its history until after the deposition 

 of the coal-beds, these (in Pennsylvania) being 

 included in the folds and faults by which the 

 region was raised into mountain form. Since 

 that time its history, like that of the Lauren- 

 tian, has been one of waste ard removal. 



Lastly we have the great Kocky Mountain sys. 

 tem, better known as the Cordilleran system, for 

 the Rockies proper form only one element in the 

 system as a whole, the latter properly embracing 

 all the high land lying between the region of the 

 Great Plains and the Pacific coast. This region, 

 nearly 1,000 miles iu width, was somewhat min- 

 utely described as seen, first along the Union 

 Pacific R. R., or 40th parallel, and secondly along 

 the line of the C. P. E. In each case it was 

 shown to embrace a number of approximately 

 parallel chains, including basins or plateaus be- 



tween, and each exhibiting features peculiar to 

 itself. Thus, on the line of the 40th parallel, the 

 eastern ranges, constituting the Rockies proper, 

 were described as rising abruptly from the re- 

 gion of the Plains to heights of 10,000 to 14,000 

 feet; while upon their western side they look 

 down, with almost equal abruptness, upon the 

 Green River and Colorado Basins, the two being 

 separated by the east and west chain of the 

 Uintahs, and together making up what, from a 

 geological point of view, has been well styled 

 the Plateau Province. This name is suggested by 

 the fact that everywhere around the borders of 

 this relatively low and flat tract are found great 

 masses of horizontal strata, arranged in steps 

 or plateau, one above another, the descent from 

 one to the other being often precipitous and hun- 

 dreds or even thoasauds of feet in amount; while 

 near the edge of the successive terraces are nu- 

 merous outlying masses or buttes, which were 

 evidently at one time continuous with the adja- 

 cent terraces, but have since been separated as 

 the result of wear and removal. It was then 

 shown that a similar removal of rock, to a thick- 

 ness of nearly tivo miles, had taken place over an 

 area of at least 100,000 square miles, the terraces 

 or plateaus, representing successive formations 

 of different ages and degrees of hardness, being 

 only the remnants of what once covered the whole 

 region. Further, in the centre of the basin, this 

 process of erosion was described as finding still 

 grander illustration in the great canon of the 

 Colorado River, a profound trench cut by the 

 river across the whole Plateau Province, and 

 having a vertical depth, with nearly precipitous 

 sides, from 2,000 to 6,000 feet. This oanon was 

 described as one of the greatest of nature's won- 

 ders and its history fully detailed, while increased 

 Interest was given to the de»criptious by the ex- 

 hibition of numerous plates and a large number 

 of photographs taken by the various exploring ex- 

 peditions sent out by the U. S. government. Oa 

 the west the Plateau Province, embracing a large 

 part of the State of Color tdo, is again abruptly 

 met and walled in by the lofty range of the Wah- 

 satch Mts., separating the Colorado Basin from 

 what, ever since Fremont's time, has been known 

 as the ''Great Basin." This is the flat,treeless and 

 almost utterly desert tract, including the region 

 around Great Salt Lake, which at one time 

 proved such a barrier to the tide of westward 

 emigration, and which is still uninhabitable ex- 

 cept where, as at Salt Lake City, fertility has 

 been partly restored by artificial irrigation. The 

 waters of Great Salt Lake are so dense that the 

 human body is sustained on them without ex- 

 ertion and becomes, after bathing, encrusted 

 with salt. Several rivers, such as the Humboldt, 

 Carson and Truckee, traverse portions of the 

 desert, being fed by melting snows from the 

 mountains, but, unlike most streams, become 

 smaller as we recede from their sources and are 

 finally swallowed up in ''sinks." So lakes, many 

 square miles in surface, sometimes appear after 

 heavy rain fall, and vanish a few hours after the 

 latter has ceased. 



