474 LTA LRN PLEATED TING PRR, 
thermometers, placed on the summits of certain mountains, 
recorded —17° C., against — 40° in the neighboring valleys. 
Greenland.—Mr. Steenstrup has attempted to determine 
whether the inland ice has suffered periodic variations, but has 
been unable to arrive at definite conclusions. 
We have a description of the inland ice, written in the year 
1200, which would apply to its present condition. A dozen 
glaciers in the Umanak fiord are the only ones that have been 
sufficiently studied to yield results of value. Some show no 
sensible variations; others show variations of rather short peri- 
ods, dependent probably on the rate of flow. Generally it can be 
said that there has been no marked change in the length of the 
glaciers during this century, but the tendency seems to be for 
an advance rather than for a retreat. A table of twenty-six 
measures of the velocity of various Greenland glaciers shows 
motions ranging between one-quarter inch and 124 feet a day. 
Professor Mouchketow, representative for Russia, makes the 
following report :* 
Caucasus.— Measurements of nine glaciers in different parts 
of this chain show a retreat varying from 30 to 125 feet yearly 
for the last eight or ten years; though in the central Caucasus 
some of the névé fields are growing thicker. About forty 
glaciers were visited in 1896 in the mountains of Teberda and 
Maroukha, several of which were unknown before. They are 
receding, and we may say that the glaciers of the Caucasus are 
generally in the state of retreat. 
Turkestani—Many glaciers have been discovered in the 
Ghissar Mountains and the neighboring chains. They are small 
and do not descend below 11,000 feet. They occur in groups; 
the majority lie on the northern slopes, and are for the most part 
entirely covered with snow; this was more general than usual 
in 1896, on account of the heavy precipitation, which also char- 
acterized that year in the Alps. The positions of the moraines 
show a general retreat of these glaciers. ‘ 
t Professor Mouchketow gives the names and locations of a large number of 
glaciers. 
