398 Miscellanies. 



greatly indebted to Agassiz. I now feel as if the dynamics of this 

 most difficult subject were nearly settled. Mr. Lyell had, indeed, done 

 very much towards such a result ; but the striaB and moraines still re- 

 mained unexplained, till the glaciers of the Alps had been explored. 



As to Mr. Murchison's views, I did indeed state, on the authority of 

 a friend in London, who is a member, of the Geological Society, that 

 Mr. Murchison among others had " more or less fully" adopted the 

 views of Agassiz. But I meant only that general adoption which I had 

 given them ; for in a note on page 28,* I stated Mr. Murchison's views 

 in his own words, from his pamphlet on the Geological Structure of 

 Northern and Central Russia, c^c., giving the precise theory which he 

 has more fully explained in his recent address : so that in fact, there 

 has been no misapprehension of his opinions in my own miiid, whatever 

 error there may be in my language. In explaining his views I added 

 this remark : " very likely the glacier theory may need some analogous 

 modification to adapt it to this country." It will be seen from this sen- 

 tence, that my mind was entirely unsettled as to the origin of the ice 

 and water which have produced drift, and that I was quite as favorably 

 inclined towards the peculiar views of Mr. Murchison as of any other 

 geologist. 



It is of little consequence to the public what are my views on this 

 subject ; and I should not have asked a page of your Journal for expla- 

 nation, did I not fear that my views, thus misunderstood, might be re- 

 garded as an index of the opinions of American geologists, as indeed 

 Mr. Murchison intimates, (p. 68.) But I doubt whether he could find 

 any one of them ready to adopt the unmodified glacier theory of Agas- 

 siz ; although doubtless many will admire the ingenuity and indom- 

 itable perseverance of that distinguished naturalist, and thank him for 

 the great light which his labors have cast upon the phenomena of drift. 



5. Ancient Meteorological Notices. — The following statements are 

 copied from " An Appendix touching Prodigies in New England,''"' 

 subjoined to " A Sermon, (entitled the Way to Prosperity,) preached 

 to the Honourable Convention of the Governour, Council, and Repre- 

 sentatives of the Massachuset-Colony in New England, on May 23, 

 1689. By Cotton Mather. Boston : Printed by Richard Pierce, for 

 Benjamin Harris. A. D. 1690." — 16mo., in all pp. 53. The accounts 

 have received a tinge from the fancy of the learned and curious writer, 

 but are evidently entitled to ordinary credit. The fragments, which 

 were probably thrown down by the explosions of the meteor, may have 

 fallen in some uninhabited region, and there have buried themselves be- 

 yond the reach of investigation. E. C. H. 



• This Jour. Vol. xLi, p. 257. 



