Jan. 28, 1886] 



NA TURE 



301 



further. To all appearance they were made up altogether 

 of morainic matter, but in ascending the steep side of 

 one of them I was surprised to find that my feet, after 

 sinking through a few inches of loose stone, struck upon 

 a hard surface of ice, and that the bulk of the ridge was 

 made up of stony ice. 



Seeing also that muddy water was welling out in the 

 depression between this ridge and the next, I came to 

 think that a buried portion of the glacier probably still 

 underlay all this ground, perhaps even reaching down to 

 the beach. Then, observing huge piles of similar material 

 on the mountain-side, I concluded that a portion of the 

 ice might remain hidden there also. 



If this were so, then the downward pressure of this 

 mass on the one hand against the sloping and partially- 

 buried flank of the glacier on the other would readily ex- 

 plain the presence of these ridges. 



This view of their origin is illustrated in the following 

 diagram (Fig. 2), which I drew just after leaving the 

 glacier ; it would account for the mixture of water-worn 

 and angular debris in the ridges, the former resulting 

 from the watercourses between the glacier and the 

 mountain, and the latter from the melting of stony ice. 



:. 2. — Ideal Section across the Moraine 01 

 Muir Glacier. 



.\, Eastern slope of the glacier : stony ic 

 of loose stones. 



R, Solid rock of the mountain-side. 



c c c, Ridges apparently consisting of v 

 with some angular debris, but probably hidi 



D D D, Buried portion of the gh 



the eastern dank of the 

 : covered with a deep layer 



n gravel and sand, 

 i of stony ice, d d. 



pressed up i 



ridges. 



nd als. 



the 



The ridges at the time of my visit were about half a 

 mile in length, but may of course grow much longer 

 as the glacier shrinks back. Though more or less 

 regular, they were here and there interrupted and con- 

 fused so as to form hollows surrounded by mounds, and 

 in one case I noticed that the drainage of a gully had 

 been dammed back so as to form a pond, in which the 

 muddy water deposited much of its fine rock-flour, and 

 issued out comparatively clear at the other side of 

 the obstruction. 



The boulders and pebbles- of the moraine were chiefly 

 of gray granite, but I noticed also quartzite, gneiss, a few 

 fragments of slaty shale, and a mass of ancient-looking 

 conglomerate — the last-named on the beach. During 

 the day I saw only one scratched block ; this was low 

 down on the moraine near the beach. 



We were now obliged to join the boat, which was 

 wailing to take us back to the ship, and very much did I 

 regret that circumstances would not permit me to stay 

 longer. 



Before leaving the ice-clifts we fired a shot or two from 

 our small signal cannon, to try to bring about an ava- 

 lanche, but it had no perceptible effect, and the avalanches 

 continued to choose their own time to fall. 



This whole region forms a magnificent field for the 

 study of glacial phenomena, and to any geologist who 

 may follow I would especially say — examine the hollow 

 between the ice and the mountains ; go to the foot of the 

 ice-cliff" at low water ; and, wherever there is stained ice 

 on the top of the glacier, trace out the source of the 

 discolouration. G. W. Lamplugh 



NOTES 

 The honour of knighthood was conferred upon Prof. Robert 

 Stawell Ball, LL.D., Astronomer- Royal for Ireland, at the /t-rV 

 of the Lord-Lieutenant, on January 25. 



Lord Iddesleigh has selected Mr. D. Morris, Director of 

 the Public Gardens, Jamaica, for the appointment of Assistant 

 Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. 



Dr. Riley, Entomologist to the United States Agricultural 

 Department, has presented his collection of insects to the United 

 States. It is said to contain 1 15,000 specimens of 20,000 species 

 or varieties of insects. 



The Committee of the Francois .Arago centenary have appointed 

 M. Mouchez, Director of the Observatory, President ; M. Floquet, 

 President of the Chamber of Deputies, has been appointed 

 Honorary President. The principal part of the celebration will 

 take place at the Observatory. 



M. P.\UL Bert will not leave Paris so soon as was expected 

 for Tonquin ; the delay is occasioned by the organisation of the 

 scientific part of his mission. 



The late M. Bertillon has bequeathed a sum of 4000 francs to 

 the Paris Anthropological Society, to found a biennial prize to 

 be awarded for the best work on some anthropological subject. 



A SHOCK of earthquake was felt at about 7 o'clock on the 

 morning of January 20 at St. Austell and in the neighbourhood. 

 It appeared as if an explosion had taken place, so great was the 

 noise, and the sound was immediately followed by the shaking 

 of the ground. Persons felt their beds moving under them, and 

 many others had an impression that a portion of their house was 

 falling down. The shock was also felt at Mevagissey. Many 

 people were shaken in their beds. In one instance a clock was 

 stopped, and in many houses the doors and windows shook 

 violently. The inhabitants of St. Blazey and neighbourhood 

 were greatly startled, about a quarter past 7, by hearing a loud 

 rumbling noise and by houses being shaken from foundation to 

 roof. It appeared to come from a northerly direction, and the 

 vibration lasted about 4 or 5 seconds. Persons coming in from 

 the outlying districts and giving an account of the shock being 

 more or less severe all agree as to the time of its taking place. 



A telegram from Mexico states that there was a renewed 

 eruption on January 16 from the Colima volcano. Enormous 

 stones were thrown out, and great streams of lava appeared. 

 The eruption was accompanied by earthquakes. 



Mr. J. Francis Cole, writing from Sutton, Surrey, informs 

 us that he was a spectator of the remarkable meteor alluded to 

 in our columns of the 21st inst. (p. 278). As seen by him, the 

 meteor appeared to explode or extinguish itself at a point about 

 midway between the horizon and Capella, and was of a form 

 like a well-shaped pear. It seemed so near that he felt he 

 could have hit it with a stone. At the moment of exploding it 

 opened in the centre of the lower part with a well-defined slit, 

 and then widening, showed a light of the character of a hydro- 

 gen flame. The direction of the meteor was clearly from west 

 to east, and at the same time the wind was blowing strongly 

 from the west. 



Amongst the objects of interest at the forthcoming Colonial 

 and Indian Exhibition will be a rare collection of indigenous 

 Australian grasses. The specimens are named to correspond 

 with the nomenclature used in the " Flora Australiensis," and 

 there is in addition much practical information about each, 

 derived from general sources. 



We have received Prof. Baird's last Report on the work of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, which deals only with the half year 

 ending June 30 last, in consequence of a resolution of the Board 

 of Regents directing that the fiscal year, instead of extending 

 from January to December, shall, like the Government fiscal 

 year, extend from July i to June 30 in future. Amongst the 

 publications promised by the Institution we notice the scientific 



