October 17, 1907] 



NA TURE 



627 



fluence the ice-front ; but the author points out that the 

 crushing of the resisting masses in the lowlands is just 

 what might be expected from a sudden addition of snow 

 to the reservoirs in the hills. Changes of level, moreover, 

 amounting to as much as 47 feet, took place in Alaska 

 in 1899, and these may in part account for local variations. 

 The description of the broad alluvial fan of the Hayden 

 Glacier, with its streams changing in position and depth 

 from day to day, is impressively interesting, as an illus- 

 tration of the rate at which our own " glacial gravels " 

 may have been distributed. 



Perhaps Prof. Tarr's remarkable but modest paper will 

 be hailed by M. Edouard Piette as an argument in favour 

 of his more startling views (" D^placement dcs Glaces 

 polaires et grandcs Extensions des Glaciers," .Saint 

 Ouentin, 1906, pp. 3I1). M. Piette attributes the glacial 

 climate of the northern hemisphere to the release of ice- 

 masses by earthquakes at the pole. He urges that this 

 would be assisted by the uprush of volcanic vapours and 

 hot springs along the fissures, while cataclysms like that 

 of the .Straits of .Sunda would fling the ocean waters 

 irresistiblv against the polar ice-cap. The Atlantic con- 

 tinent from Ireland to Iceland fell in about the same 

 time by an " affaissement d^finitif , " and the whole ice 

 sped southward, leaving the pole for a time free. We 

 confess that we can read M. Piette's paper far more 

 sympathetically, now that we have the advantage of Prof. 

 Tarr's conclusiojis ; but there is a whirl of death and 

 horror about his description of the great catastrophe thai 

 reminds us of the old diluvial theories, to say nothing 

 of Dante's second circle. We read, moreover, that ice- 

 bergs nowadays (p. 6), running aground on the coasts 

 " d'lrlande ou d'Ecosse, y d^terminent des froids intenses, 

 capables de geler la v^g(^'tation." Such a phenomenon 

 would attract thousands of excursionists, and would surely 

 be mentioned in our veracious daily papers. 



The erosive power of glaciers is clear, wherever joints 

 or any other planes of division in a rock are so arranged 

 as to slope up against the direction of movement of the 

 ice. " Plucking " then becomes a feature of the district. 

 But, even. on ice-smoothed surfaces, signs of rock-fracture 

 under the pressure of the glacier are occasionally found. 

 Prof. G. K. Gilbert discusses these " crescentic gouges " 

 (B»//. Geo}. Soc. America, vol. xvii., 1906, p. 303) as 

 due to the presence of subglacial boulders. A line of type 

 omitted on p. 313 renders one of the sentences obscure: 

 but the argument put forward is that ice must have 

 " greater power of resistance [to flowage] than some 

 students have been disposed to admit. . . . The more 

 rapid the flow the stronger the resistance. Therefore the 

 crescentic gouges . . . may testifv also to the relative 

 rapiditv of ^glacier movement." Prof. Gilbert's photo- 

 graphic illustrations are excellent, as are those of sub- 

 glacial potholes in a subsequent paper on moulin work 

 {ihid.. p. 317), in which it is pointed out that such 

 nioulin-hollows may be bounded during their formation on 

 one side by rock and on another by the ice, leaving a rock- 

 surface with flexuous incurvings when the glacier has 

 disappeared by melting. 



Prof. R. S. Tarr (" Glacial Erosion in Alaska," Popular 

 Science Motithlv, vol. Ixx., iqo7, p. qq) discusses the 

 broader features of glacial erosion as displayed in hang- 

 ing valleys. He postulates, in common with other writers, 

 a considerable deepening of the main valley by ice ; but 

 mav we not presume that the lateral valleys were largely 

 developed and cut back by the frost-nibbliner. under glacial 

 conditions, on which Profs. Penck and Davis lay such 

 proper stress? A main valley, with feeble lateral tribu- 

 taries, may be occupied up to a certain level bv ice, which 

 widens it, deepens it somewhat, and wears back the poorly 

 developed orojectin^ spurs. The lateral vallevs are at 

 the same time rapidlv weathered back under the new .ind 

 more strenuous conditions of high-level erosion, and rockv 

 cirques are formed at their heads in place of ronduept 

 stream-grooves. Tributary ice gathers in each lateral 

 hollow, and the erosion above it, and also below it 

 where a rushing stream emerges on the crevassed 

 main glacier, cannot operate below the level where 

 'he two masses unite : and finally, if melting is rapid, 

 hangine: vallevs are left, which will in time be cut 

 down bv nrdin^rv weatherinrf to the level of the main 



NO. T981, VOT.. 76I 



valley-floor. If the main glacier diminishes by ablation 

 slowly, the tributary glaciers and their subglacial streams 

 cut down their valleys to keep pace with the falling 

 surface, and these valleys finally cease to be of the hangr 

 ing type, though showing glaciated floors. This seems 

 to have been the case in much of central Connemara. 

 This is not the place, however, to attempt to modify the 

 theory of the deepening of glacial valleys so brilliantly 

 put forward by Prof. \V. M. Davis. Suffice it that Prof, 

 ■farr disposes successfully of several of the fantastic 

 theories put forward to account for a phenomenon of very 

 wide occurrence in glaciated areas. 



In the Verhandlungen der schweizerischen natur- 

 forschenden Gesellschait, St. Gallen meeting, 1906, pp. 

 261-307, Herr J. Friih] of Ziirich, w-rites a general essay. 

 " Ueber Form und Grbsse der glazialen Erosion," illus- 

 trated by personal observations on the topography of 

 Sw'itzerland. Hanging valleys, Alpine lakes, and " Ueber- 

 tiefungen " are discussed, and useful references are given 

 to Davis, Penck, and Bruckner. 



Lastly, we must not forget the work of water in its 

 immense circulatory systems below the surface. The 

 investigation of the " Underground Water Resources of 

 -Alabama," by Mr. E. Allen Smith (Geological Survey of 

 Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama, 1907J, has provided us 

 with a neatly bound volume which is in many ways a 

 guide to the geology of the State. The conditions favour- 

 ing underground flow and the emergence of springs are 

 discussed in pp. 32 to 63 in a manner that will interest 

 engineers in general, as well as the ordinary citizen 

 between the Tennessee River and the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The great region for artesian water-supply in Alabama 

 lies along the band of Cretaceous limestone, the Selwa 

 Chalk, which passes just south of Montgomery. Several 

 medicinal springs occur among the Tertiary strata toxyards 

 the Gulf, including one (p. 320) that has been said to 

 give protection against malarial fever. 



G. A. J. C. 



ESDO]VMENTS FOR SECONDARY 

 EDUCATION. 



WHILE writing this article the following questions have 

 been in mind : — (i) What are the number and extent 

 of the educational endowments of our great public and 

 other endowed schools? (2) What were the intentions of 

 their founders? (3) How far are such intentions at pre- 

 sent realised? (4) Can the endowments be made more 

 generallv available so as to increase their benefit to the 

 public with the minimum departure from those intentions? 

 The answer to the two latter questions must be that 

 it is largely a question of degree; from the nature of the 

 case an expression of opinion, not a precise estimate, is 

 all that can be attempted. The first two questions relane 

 to definite matters of fact, the answers to which ought to 

 be ascertainable, but are only approximately to be deter- 

 mined. A belter reply to (i) would be forthcoming had 

 either the late or the present Government fulfilled their 

 promises to obtain a return, to be presented to the House 

 of Commons, giving statistics of the finance of all endowed 

 schools. We are infonried that the Charitable Trusts 

 Division of the Board of Education is considering the 

 details to be sought in such inquiry, and it is to be hoped 

 that considerations of its cost will no longer be allowed 

 to stay its fulfilment. In the meantime, the following 

 condensed account, based on such materials as were obtain- 

 able, is submitted as calculated to correct some of the 

 grosser errors prevalent with regard to the subject of our 

 ancient endowments. The writer wishes to acknowledge 

 his indebtedness to the writings of Mr. A. F. Leach 

 (Charitv Commissioner) and to the courteous help of the 

 ofticials at the Education Board, of course without imply- 

 ing that thev have any responsibility for the statements 

 which follow. 



Endowed Schools before the Reformation. 

 The records included in Mr. A. F. Leach's book entitled 

 " English Schools at the Reformation " (Constable) show 

 that 200 grammar schools at least, and more probably 



