84 Prof. Forbes on a Remarkable Structure observed 
More extended researches regarding these structures, pro- 
visionally considered as stinging organs, will make known 
much that is remarkable in reference to their occurrence, ar- 
rangement, structure, and movement, and will display great 
riches in respect to phenomena of organization.* 
On a Remarkable Structure observed by the Author in the Ice 
of Glaciers. By James D. Forszs, Esq., Sec. R.S. Ed. Pro- 
fessor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. 
With a Plate. (Read to the Royal Society, Edinburgh, 
Dec. 6. 1841.) Communicated by the Author. 
Tue object of the present short communication is little more 
than to announce and describe a peculiarity which the Ice of 
Glaciers frequently exhibits, interesting in itself as connected 
with the theory of their formation and propagation, and per- 
haps having a bearing upon the explanation of some facts long 
felt by geologists to be perplexing. 
Had I yielded to my own first impulse, this communication 
would have formed but a part of a much more extensive one, 
intended to give such an account, as I best might, of the pre- 
sent views entertained respecting the mechanism and conser- 
vation of glaciers, and the curious and interesting question of 
their ancient extension, and perhaps vast geological influence 
in producing some of the latest evidences of revolution on the 
surface of the globe. When I considered, however, the great 
extent which such a communication, to be generally intelligi- 
ble, must necessarily have,—and farther, that a large share 
of the material must be drawn from the works and the obser- 
vations of others,—when I recollected, besides, that how- 
ever earnest and sustained had been my investigation of these 
curious points, there was still much left obscure or unproved 
to my own mind; in short, that the communication I should 
lay before the Society could not have that completeness, deter- 
mination, and originality, which could properly entitle it to a 
permanent place in the Transactions of our Body, it seemed 
* From the Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, 1841. 
