676 
vered the rock, some of these undulations in the surface appeared 
wide enough to contain the body of a man, and though observing 
a rude sort of parallelism, their forms were often devious. As 
their surface was smooth, not much unlike the usual aspect of 
the so called “moutonnés” rocks, the glacialists of our party at 
first seemed to be proving their case, when suddenly a discovery 
destroyed, at least in my opinion, their theory ; for in the adjacent 
quarries of the same hill, at a much lower level, and upon beds just 
uncovered by the workmen from beneath much solid stone, other 
sets of undulations or grooves were detected, so like to those upon 
the summit of the hill, that a little atmospheric influence alone was 
required to complete their identity. My belief therefore is, that the 
undulations were caused by the action which took place when the 
stone was solidified. 
Phenomena of a similar nature to the Scottish have been since 
observed in Wales by our late Fellow, Mr. Bowman. Captivated 
by the glacial theory, and having himself endeavoured to show that 
it could even be as successfully applied to the South as to the 
North of Scotland, he examined the highest region of Wales, with 
the geological structure of which he was previously familiar, half 
convinced, @ priori, that he would naturally find in those moun- 
tainous tracts some proof in support of the new views which he had 
adopted. He, however, quitted that country without having been able 
to observe any evidence whatever in favour of the Alpine theory, 
though his journey enabled him to detect several examples of striated 
rocks, which in unskilful hands might have been mistaken for the 
effects of glacial action; and these he holds up as warning beacons. 
After stating that there are, in his opinion, no terraces which any 
follower of Agassiz can construe into “ moraines,” whether terminal, 
medial, or lateral, on the flanks of the mountains of Snowdon, the 
Arenigs, or the Berwyns, he describes three distinct and differently 
formed sets of parallel markings which he observed in the newly 
uncovered surfaces of the schistose Silurian rocks, and shows satis- 
factorily how such appearances, as well as the tops of the joints, 
might be mistaken by cursory observers for scratches, although 
they are in fact due to structure. 
Unlike Mr. Bowman, Dr. Buckland has not confined his views of 
the action of glaciers to Scotland, but applies them largely to the 
North of England and to Wales. He has recently endeavoured to 
satisfy us, that the rocks on the sides of the chief valleys in the lat- 
ter country which open out from a common centre of elevation are 
striated, worn afd polished in the direction of the present water- 
courses, and these he conceives to be evidences of former glaciers, 
which filled up all the valleys radiating from Snowdon to a distance 
of many miles from a common centre. I confess I see almost insur- 
mountable objections to this view. Apart from other evidence, the 
very physical geography of this tract is at variance with the construc- 
tion of such an hypothesis. In the Alps, and indeed in every other 
part of the world in which they have been observed, the length of gla- 
ciers is in ratio to the height of the mountains from which they ad- 
