TIIK SL'L'CKSSIOX OF DIH'osll'S. ;",I 



"The in('(l(iiiiiimiit souili-wcst striutifUi, iind llic ciitliii" 

 (•f the uii|M'r lakes, (Iciiiaiitl an (iiitlct to tin- ucsi lur tlui 

 (ii'ctic (•iiiiciii. lint IhiiIi (Ini'in,;^ (U'lirussioM iind fl('\ati(iii 

 "l" iIm' hiinl, tliric ninst lia\(' liccn a time when lliis unlU'l 

 was olisiiMiclcd, and wlim llic Idwrr IcncIs id' New \'f»ik, 

 New Ku;,diind, and Canada were still under water. Then 

 till! valley (if the Ottawa, that of the Mohawk, and the 

 low couniiy lietween lakes Ontario and Ihiron, and the 

 viilloys ot lake Chaniplain and the ( 'onneeticui, wnuld he 

 •straits or arms of the sea, and the current , olistrneted in 

 its diieet llow. Would set inineijial Iv aloliij,- tlie>e, ami act 

 on the rocks in north and south, and north-west and 

 south-east directions. To this pmiionof the process we 

 may attiihnte much of i he iiorih-west and s(Uitli-easL 

 Htriatioii. It is true that t his \ie\v does not account for 

 the south-east, stiiae ohserxcd on some hi^li |ieaks in New 

 En.^land : lail, it must he ol)ser\-ed that cncii at the time 

 of greatest dejiression, the arctic currfHi wduld cliui;- to 

 till' iiorlherii laud, or he thrown so rajiidly to the west 

 that its direct action nnuht not reach such sunnuils. 

 I'licre weie also e\leirsi\(' local glaciers in these uioun- 

 tiiins, whose work must he st'|)arated from that of the 

 sea-drift. 



" I con(dudc these n-marks with a nu're lel'ereiice to 

 the alle;_;('(l picvalence of lakc-hasius and hords in hi^li 

 lutrthcrn latitudes, as connected with Lilacial action. In 

 reasoning' on this, it seems to he oNcrlooked that the \)vv- 

 valenee of disturbed and metaniorphie rocks over wide 

 areas in the north is one element in the matter, and that 

 in the Phocene age the greater elevation of the land nnist 

 have caused dee])er tluviatile erosion. Further, the fiords 

 on coasts, like the deep lateral valleys of mountains, are 

 often evidences of the action of the waves rather than of 



