( 428 ) 



ceptible undulation of the ground, wh'wh oiilv in some parts scarcely 

 deserves the name of hill. Before one is aware of it, its "summit" has 

 been reached, and it is probably only owing to the rather steep 

 slope of the Drenthe plateau towards the valley of the Hunze and the 

 extensive Bourtanger marsh, that this part of the country has received 

 its peculiar name. Without these the "ridge" would possibly be passed 

 unnoticed. However, the fact remains that there is a slight, irregular 

 elevation of the ground, rising at the most but a few meters above 

 the country on its w^estern borderline, which, running from the 

 South-East to the North- West, is almost entirely confined to the 

 Province of Drenthe and has its Northern end a short distance 

 beyond the town of Groningen. 



From a geological point of view, the Hondsrug is interesting on 

 account of the numerous erratics found there, several shiploads of 

 which are yearly collected. This, however, is a peculiarity not limited 

 to the Hondsrug: until recently similar boulders were also met with, 

 in as lai'ge numbers, in other parts of Drenthe and Friesland, but in 

 the more inhabited districts of these provinces they have, for the greater 

 part, already been dug out. Another point which until lately lent a 

 certain importance to the Hondsrug, was the generally accepted notion 

 of it being a terminal moraine. This interpretation, first started by 

 Prof. VAN Calker, and especially based on his exploration of the 

 northern termination of the Hondsrug, in the town of Groningen 

 and in its vicinity, has snccessivelj^ been adopted. By a number of 

 papers, dealing with the Hondsrug in Groningen, published during 

 the last twenty years Prof, van Calker has not a little contributed 

 to give to this insignificant ridge a rather prominent geological 

 importance. Almost from the outset of his investigations, van Calker 

 expressed his positive conviction that the Hondsrug is a terminal 

 moraine. As early as 1889, he writes^): "Seit meinen ersten ein- 

 schlagigen Untersuchungen stand meine Ansicht fest, dass der Honds- 

 rug eine Endmorane reprasentire, eine Moranenablagerung, welche 

 eineiii langeren Stagniren im Rückzuge des Gletschers, vielleicht bei 

 einer gleich gerichteten Bodenwelle entspricht. Und mein A'^ermuthen, 

 dass diese eine weitere südöstliche Erstreckung habe, wurde bestatigt, 

 als ungefahr 38 K.M. südöstlich von hier bei Buinen in Drenthe 

 beim Aufgraben von Geschieben auch solche mit abgeschlifFener und 

 geschrammter Oberilache zum Vorschein kamen und noch etwa 

 26 K.M. w^eiter südöstlich von dort, bei Nieuw-xAmsterdam solche 

 von mir selbst gesammelt wurden, und ich an letzterer Localitat die 

 Grundmorane constatiren konnte." 



^) Zeilschr. der Deutsclien Geologisclien Gesellschaft. 1889, p. 351. 



