316 HARRY FIELDING REID 



are being plowed down by great masses of moraine advancing before 

 the ice. 



The Illecillewaet glacier, British Columbia, continues to recede 

 and to decrease in thickness. The following table shows the yearly 

 recession determined annually in August since 1898: 



1898-1899 - • - - - 11 feet 



1899-1900 ----- 69 feet 



1900-1901 - - - - - 15 feet 



1901-1902 ----- 48 feet 



1902-1903 - - - - -33 feet 



A careful triangulation of the plates placed on the ice in 1899 

 to determine the rate of flow proves that the rate determined in 

 1900 has subsequently remained almost constant. 



While the Asulkan glacier has apparently shrunk in breadth, 

 the tongue continues to advance. The following shows the principal 

 changes yearly since 1899 : 



1899-1900 - - - recession, 24 feet 



1900-1901 - - ...-,: advance, 4 feet 

 1901-1903 - - - - advance, 36 feet 1 



REPORT ON THE GLACIERS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR 1904 2 



Professor George Davidson has made a careful study of all the 

 old charts and narratives relative to the glaciers along the Alaskan 

 coast. 3 He has incorporated in his account copies of some early 

 maps, and has superposed upon them the outlines of the latest maps, 

 and by this means has shown changes that have occurred in the 

 position of the ends of some glaciers. The account is very full, 

 giving, with references, all the descriptions of glaciers by the early 

 navigators. Professor Davidson's general conclusions are practi- 

 cally the same as those arrived at by the Harriman Expedition, namely, 

 that there has been a very marked general retreat of the glaciers, 



T Report of Messrs. George and William S. Vaux, Jr. 



2 A synopsis of this report will appear in the Tenth Annual Report of the Interna- 

 tional Committee. A report of the glaciers of the United States for 1903 was given in 

 this Journal, Vol. XII, pp. 258-63. 



3 " The Glaciers of Alaska That Are Shown on Russian Charts or Mentioned in 

 Older Narratives," Transactions and Proceedings of the Geological Society of the Pacific, 

 Vol. Ill, Ser. II, pp. 1-98. 



