180 
We have now followed the course of the blocks along a 
continuous distance of 84 geographical miles—viz. 48 on 
the mainland and 36 on the shores of fjords and sounds. 
From what I have advanced here as regards the blocks 
during their journey through the Balsfjord, it seems clear 
that their transport here cannot be ascribed to a moving 
stream of inland ice. The sharp line of demarcation, 
above which no blocks are found, seems in itself to de- 
monstrate this. The line extending for miles along along 
fjord and extensive sounds, and being so sharply defined, 
bespeaks that the transporting agency at work here must 
have been far more regular during a length of time than 
a stream of inland ice possibly could be. We have there- 
fore every reason to conclude ‘hat these blocks have been 
carried along the level of the sea on adrift-tce, i.e. shore-tce. 
As the block-transport appears from the first simul- 
taneously along the long stretch of shore from the 
Balsfjord, and past the Troms Island, a strong in- and out- 
flowing current during the diurnal tides has in all proba- 
bility been at work at a period when the level of the sea 
was 120 feet higher than at present. And the strong 
drift of the ice outwards must have been stronger than the 
one inwards up the fjord. Travelled blocks of the Kval 
Island granite are, therefore, ot found in the interior of 
the fjord, but the case is different along the broad sounds 
about the mouth of the fjord ; here the in- and outflowing 
currents have had alternate sway, ad here are also found 
blocks of the Divi Valley, as wel! as of the coast granite. 
There is another important circumstance which beyond 
a doubt proves that the inland ice during the Glacial age 
cannot have moved along this fjord, scouring the bottom. 
Thus, if we consider the present depth, about 6co feet, and 
remember that the level of the sea during the Glacial age 
was about 600 feet higher than at present, and further 
that great quantities of dééris must have been deposited 
at the bottom of the ice, it is evident that an ice-stream 
moving through the fjord, and a sixth part of whose volume 
rose above the then sea-level, must have reached several 
hundred feet above the former—that is, the outgliding 
stream must have reached several hundred feet above 
120 feet, the line of demarcation for the blocks, as it then 
lay at least 200 feet below the sea. If, however, this had 
been the case, granite blocks should now be found at a 
far greater height than 120 feet. Neither can the 
Balsfjord during the Glacial age have formed a valley 
along which the inland ice might move, as, in this case, 
travelled blocks would have been found along the sides 
at even far greater heights. 
I have, therefore, after the most careful researches 
here, yard by yard, and extending over many years, come 
to the conclusion ¢hat the Balsfjord 7s not of glacial 
origin, but formed an incision or depression in the 
mountains of older origin than the Glacial age. And this 
conclusion I believe may, im the main, apply to the question 
of the formation of all fjords in the north of Norway. 
But whether it is applicable to all fjords zm the whole of 
Norway I shall not attempt to answer. 
There may, however, be reason to assume that the 
explanation of the fjord-formation in parts which have 
lain under an earlier Glacial age as being of glacial origin, 
is rather based on speculation than such careful and 
minute researches as those I have referred to here, and 
which may, perhaps, contribute to prove the correct 
theory. KARL PETTERSEN 
Troms6 Museum 
VARIABLE STARS? 
HIS catalogue may be regarded as complemental to 
the “Catalogue of Known Variable Stars,” by the 
same author, which was read before the Royal Irish 
* A Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars, with Notes and Observa- 
tions, by J. E. Gore, M.K.I.A., F.R.A.S. A paper read before the Royal 
Irish Academy, May 12, 1884. 
NATURE 
[Fume 25, 1885 
Academy, January 28, 1884. It contains a list, including 
lettered numbers, of 745 stars in which some change of 
magnitude is suspected. The stars are tabulated in order 
of Right Ascension for the epoch 1880'0, and in separate 
columns are to be found particulars of the supposed 
change of magnitude and the authority on which the sup- 
posed change rests. In the “ Notes and Observations”. 
by which the Catalogue is followed are given particulars 
of the history of each star, together with observations by 
the author of such stars as have received attention from 
him. The work is accompanied by a map showing the 
distribution of known and suspected variable stars. 
A catalogue of this character forms a valuable working 
catalogue for the observer’s use. By further observation 
suspected variation will in some cases be proved to be 
real, and the stars claim a place in a catalogue of known 
variables. A claim of this kind might indeed already be 
made in the case of Nos. 234, 455, and 635 of Mr. Gore’s 
list. It may just be mentioned in passing that the place 
of No. 234, U Canis Minoris, is incompletely given in the 
Catalogue. Its more exact place for 1880 is R.A. 
7h. 34m. 49s., Decl. + 8° 395. There are other cases in 
which, though the period is as yet indeterminate, the fact 
of variation and its amount may be stated with some con- 
fidence. On the other hand further observation may tend 
to throw a doubt on the suspicion of change in the case 
of other stars, and (as our author observes) “these must 
of course be removed from future catalogues.” In the 
notes to No. 287 of his Catalogue a Hydra, Mr. Gore 
quotes remaiks by Sir John Herschel, Dr. Schmidt, and 
Dr. Gould to the effect that the supposed variability of 
this star may possibly be due to the influence of its ruddy 
colour on the estimates of its brightness. Is it not possible 
that the effect of colour on estimates of magnitude as 
respects different observers, or the same observer at 
different times, has hardly received so much attention as 
it deserves ? 
Large as is the number of stars included in Mr. Gore’s 
Catalogue, further additions might be made to it. Com- 
paring it, for instance, with the Table of Suspected 
Variables extracted from Mr. Chandler’s unpublished 
Catalogue by Prof. Pickering, and printed in his “ Recent 
Observations of Variable Stars” in the Proceedings of 
the American Academy, we find some 30 stars which are 
not included in Mr. Gore’s list, and it is probable that 
others might be found in other quartersalso. Indeed the 
experience of most variable star observers would probably 
suggest the view that cases of slight but distinctly recog- 
nisable light variation are relatively numerous. 
A word in regard to No. 445 in the Catalogue may 
possibly help to avert the chance of a little confusion in 
the future. This star was entered as U Bootis in Prof. 
Schoénfeld’s first Catalogue of Variable Stars, but was 
rejected by him in his ‘‘Zweiter Catalog.” There is 
another star called U Bootis by Mr. Baxendell in a paper in 
the Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc. Proceedings, vol. xxi. 
No. 11, the place of which, brought up to 1880, is R.A. 
14h. 48m. 47s., Decl. + 18° 109. This star has a period 
of 175°5 days, with a range of magnitude from about 13°5 
at minimum to about 9°2 at maximum. 
In conclusion we commend to the attention of all who 
are interested in the subject of variable stars a work the 
preparation of which must have entailed on the author a 
considerable amount of labour both as compiler and 
observer. 
NOTES 
A BERLIN telegram announces the sudden death of Dr. Emil 
Riebeck, at Feldkirch, where he was preparing for another five 
years’ journey. Our first review in this week’s NATURE refers 
to some of the last results of Dr. Riebeck’s journeys. Either 
directly or indirectly he has done good work for science in 
