in the Ice of Glaciers. 89 
tight wedging which higher up it received laterally. It is not 
easy to convey without a model a clear idea of the forms of 
surface here intended, and which yet require considerable cor- 
rection. 
I may mention, however, that the glacier of the Rhone, 
which I have carefully examined, presents a structure in con- 
formity with the view thus developed. It will be recollected 
by all who have seen that magnificent mass, that it pours in 
colossal fragments over the rocky barrier which separates the 
Gallenstock from the valley of the Rhone, and having reached 
the last-named valley, it spreads itself across and along it 
pretty freely—much as a pailful of thickish mortar would do in 
like circumstances. The form into which it spreadsis rudely 
represented in the annexed figure. 
In this particular case, even the 
as 
strongest partisans of the dilata- q: aN : 
tion theory will hardly deny, that Ster) Rroken ee. 
. . LY 
the accumulated ice descending ees 
from the glacier cataract A would 
form a centre of pressure at C, 
and that the lines of equal pres- 
sure would be found in the direc- 
tion of the dotted lines, following 
nearly the periphery of the gla- (PU \, & 
cier. Now these dotted lines pre- N SC Paes y 
cisely trace out the course of the :) jp 
veined structure alluded to; and, WZ 
moreover, they bend more and \ ‘The Rhone. 
more forwards as we proceed from 
the centre of pressure C, especially in the direction of D, the 
line of greatest inclination of the bed, and down which gravity 
urges the icy mass. The front of the glacier, about E D F, 
presents the fallacious appearance of horizontal strata, as in 
the Aar Glacier ; but these are found to dip inward at an angle 
of 10° or 15°, which angle continually increases as we approach 
the heart of the glacier, rising to 40°, 50°, 60°, and even 70°, 
as we approach C. It cannot be doubted, that these facts are 
so far favourable to the view which we have taken, although 
the establishment of it would require far more extensive obser- 
