GLACIAL DRIFT. 2O9 



the course is S. 8° W. Perhaps the most natural way to explain this 

 case is, to say that ice from the north entered the mouth of the valley 

 at Gorham, and, being powerfully urged onwards, followed up the Pea- 

 body river, because that lay in the direction of least resistance. Whether 

 this action was coeval with the motion on Mt. Washington, is doubtful ; 

 most likely the intensity of that force had somewhat abated before this 

 culminated. The valley is on the lee side of the mountains, and might 

 possibly have been moving at the same time with that on the summits 

 without inteference. Dr. Packard has cited this valley movement as an 

 illustration of a local glacier passing northerly down the Peabody river 

 to join the Androscoggin.* In this he is followed by Vose.f The latter 

 thus states the case : 



The Peabody river rises upon the eastern slopes of Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay, 

 and Washington, and upon the western slopes of the opposite range of the Carter 

 mountains, — the Imp and Mt. Moriah, and flows about N. N. E. to Gorham, where it 

 joins the Androscoggin. The surface geology of this valley is exceedingly interesting. 

 It has been carefully studied by Dr. Packard, and, from the arrangement of its 

 terraces and the other forms of the unconsolidated material, he concluded that a large 

 glacier once occupied this valley, extending as far down as to Gorham. His conclusion 

 is somewhat confirmed by the following facts: About 150 yards north of the Glen 

 house, just south of a large boulder upon the west side of the road, the surface has 

 been cut open, and has exposed a portion of a ledge, perhaps a dozen feet in length 

 and a yard wide, on which, at right angles to the contorted lamination of the rock, 

 faint lines, or, rather, furrows, are seen, running N. 35° E. or S. 35° W. This ledge 

 was covered several feet deep by the material of the terrace in front of the Glen house. 

 Just across the valley from the hotel, where the carriage-road commences to ascend, 

 the upper part of the large exposure on the right hand is well polished and furrowed in 

 a south-west direction. Half a mile further up the road, furrows upon the right side, 

 close to the road, are seen running S. 40° W. or N. 40° E. ; and, again, a short dis- 

 tance above the path leading to Tuckerman's Ravine, upon a surface somewhat inclined 

 towards the road, may be seen lines running S. 30° W. or N. 30° E. Many more 

 traces would doubtless be found in this neighborhood, if sought for with care, as the 

 few recorded were noted without stepping out of the common road. 



These and other examples given in the table have been carefully ex- 

 amined; but I am satisfied the force proceeded up instead of down the 

 valley. If the facts about stoss and lee sides of ledges declare truth, 



* A)>ierica}t Naturalist, vol. i, p. 267. 

 t I'd, vol. ii, p. 287. 



