700 MEMOIR OF GUYOT. 



•strata of the opposite sides of a tranverse 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 suiall suc- 

 cessive snow-falls that were melted in part by the sun of the day, and 

 covered each ui^^ht by the thick frost-glazing which envelops all the 

 snowy sunjmits of the high Alps."t 



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

 greater height and in a different 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. 



Un 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 dejiosited 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 wordfi are: "Stratiii6 ^ la faf on de certains calcaires grossiferemont schis- 

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



tin the original, the words are: "On anrait dit, nou pas des conches annnelles, 

 mais nne s^rie de couches pliitdt journaliferes de neige tonib^e snceessivement par 

 petites quautit6s, puis fondue en partie par lesoleil de la jonrn6e, et couvertechaque 

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

 8on)uiitds ueigeuses des hautes Alpes." 



t The report of the meeting of the Neuch4tel Society is contaiued in the Verhand- 

 lungen of the "Sdiweiz. Nat. Gcsellschaft," Altdorf, 1842. The abstract of Guyot's 

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

 cliufte d'environ 450 dans le sens de la pente g6n6rale du glacier. Leur direction sem- 

 blait presque transvorsalc a cello du glacier principal, mais longitudinale i\ celle de 

 son penchant m<^,ridional. Elle pr€sentait quelquefois des sinuosit^s qui semblaient 

 urn «i'et de csmpression lateralu." 



