472 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 
whether any known glacier exceeds it in the beauty of its 
superficial curvatures. The foreground in the illustration shows 
that it is resting upon a plain formed by the deposits of its own 
waters, and to this its symmetry is doubtless chiefly due. It may 
be taken as a rare type of the behavior of ice in an exceptionally 
untrammeled situation under the conditions of a high northern 
latitude. The photographic illustrations express for themselves 
the angle of the slope and the law of the profile’s curvature. 
Next to its graceful contours the steep front invites attention. 
It will be observed in the figures (Figs. 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27) 
that at the base there is an embankment, presently to be described, 
above which the ice rises nearly vertically to a height about 
seventy-five feet above the plain. Above this there is an arching 
but receding brow, the curvature of which becomes more and more 
gentle as it retires from the face. It will be seen that the verti- 
cality of the.face maintains itself throughout all its arching course 
across the valley, and that it isas pronounced in the center as at 
the sides. The verticality is obviously due neither to lateral nor 
to centralagenciesassuch. It cannot be attributed merely to the 
reflection of rays from surrounding elevations, for there are none 
opposite its wide frontage. The gravel plain spreads uninter- 
ruptedly down to the gulf. It will not be wise to draw conclusions 
respecting the cause of this verticality of face at this point, as we 
shall have occasion to note the phenomenon in much more pro- 
nounced forms in a dozen or more glaciers which present various 
attitudes and diverse environments. 
Along the base of the glacial front it will be observed that 
there are numerous white cones (Figs. 24, 26 and 27), and 
petween these a sloping embankment resting against the steep face 
of the glacier. Rising from each of the white cones there may 
pe seen lines which reach back across the brow of the glacier and 
are lost upon its upper surface. These are little channel-ways cut 
by streamlets formed on the surface of the glacier by its melt- 
ing. As these streamlets coursed rapidly down their little chan- 
nels they dislodged coarse granules of the ice, loosened by the 
sun, and carried them away and, precipitating them over the face 
