408 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



Raimondi (1873), in speaking of the Cordillera Occidental, says 

 that snow peaks are numerous in southern Peru, but that the most 

 colossal and gigantic are those in the portion known as the Cordil- 

 lera Blanca, in the Department of Ancachs. Cerro Hundoy, in front 

 of Caraz, is 6,828 meters high, while the bicuspate mountain Huas- 

 can, which dominates Yungay, rises to an elevation of 6,668 meters 

 in its northern peak and 6,721 meters in its southern peak. This is 

 near the northern termination of the perpetual snow. He also states 

 that Huaylillas is the most northern snow peak in Peru. 



In the Cordillera Central and likewise in the Oriental there are 

 snow peaks which are mentioned by many writers, but thus far no 

 special study of the distribution of the perpetual snow has been made. 



The Lowee Limit of Perpetual Snow. 



Pentland (1830) made numerous observations as to the occurrence 

 and lower limit of perpetual snow in southern Peru and in territory 

 which is now in Bolivia. He placed the limit at 17,061 feet, and ar- 

 rived at the conclusion that it is higher than would naturally be 

 expected and especially when compared with peaks nearer the 

 Equator. He attempted to explain this anomaly as due to aridity 

 and excessive evaporation. Raimondi (1879) has given 14,700 feet 

 as the average of the lowest limits in the Department of Ancachs. 

 In the Cordilleras, in the southern j^art of Peru, he places the limit 

 at 15,100 feet or more. He commented on the previous observations 

 and explained that there seems to be a considerable error in Pent- 

 land's determinations of altitudes and considers the deductions from 

 them as erroneous. Raimondi gives the following table of the gen- 

 erally admitted elevation of the lower limits of perpetual snow : 



Meters. 



0°, or at the Equator 4,800 



20° south 4,600 



45° south 2,500 



60° south 1,500 



Glaciation. 



After examining the evidences of glaciation in Bolivia and south- 

 ern Peru, Hauthal ^ (1906) in a short notice gave as his opinion that 

 climatic conditions similar to those of the present prevailed during 

 the glacial period, but that a lower temperature, due to cosmic causes, 

 gave rise to glaciers from certain centers, and that there was no gen- 

 eral glaciation. 



Duefias (1907), in his report on the Department of Cuzco, examined 

 the glaciated mass of igneous rock known as the " Rodadero " on the 



" Quartare vergletscherung der Aiiden in BoHvleu und Peru, Zeitschrift fiir 

 gletscherkunde, Band I. Heft 3, September, 1906, p. 203. 



