1895-96.] Glaciers. IS7 



I would only remark, in conclusion, that the fact of these 

 poisonous plants growing side by side with others not only 

 harmless, but often serviceable, is a most remarkable phe- 

 nomenon. What causes them thus to differ from their con- 

 geners, growing in the same soil and amid the same surround- 

 ings, forms a most interesting subject of inquiry. 



III.— GLACIERS. 



By Mr J. G. GOODCHILD, F.G.S., F.Z.S., Etc. 



(Read Dec. S3, 1895.) 



Me Goodchild began by reviewing the conditions under which 

 the fall of snow takes place at different altitudes, and made 

 some remarks upon the physical properties of its different 

 forms. The gradation from the various forms of snow into 

 the ntvt, and from this to glacier ice, were noticed in some 

 detail, and were illustrated by lantern-photographs. Median 

 and lateral moraines, crevasses, seracs, glacier-tables, and all 

 the phenomena visible in an ordinary Swiss glacier, were 

 treated in the same manner. Some remarks were then made 

 upon the causes of glacier motion, upon the erosive effects of 

 glaciers, and upon the stony and earthy material carried 

 forward ivithin the body of the ice. Photographs of Green- 

 land glaciers were projected by the limelight upon the screen 

 with the object of illustrating these points. Some reference was 

 then made to the results of recent investigations into various 

 glacial phenomena in Alaska, especially in connection with the 

 Muir Glacier. Mr Goodchild pointed out that these results 

 fully confirmed the views regarding the englacial origin of 

 boulder clay, and the formation of kames and eskers in con- 

 nection with crevasses of melting ice-sheets, which he had been 

 the first to advance, in the ' Geological Magazine ' for Novem- 

 ber 1874, and in the ' Quarterly Journal' of the Geological 

 Society of London early in the following year. The lecture 

 concluded with some references to glacial phenomena in the 

 neighbourhood of Edinburgh. 



