The Royal Society of Canada. 433 



middle and lower Fraser River districts ; the Fraser River 

 gold-bearing slates of palaeozoic age ; the mesozoic and ter- 

 tiary rocks yielding gold ; the later tertiary auriferous 

 deposits generally ; the post-tertiary auriferous deposits in 

 the districts described ; and finally, an account is given of 

 the discovery of the hidden wealth. It was always a ques- 

 tion of enrichment in gold to a stage for profitable mining. 

 The conditions of practicable placer -mining were eluci- 

 dated, as well as the first gathering of the gold into quartz 

 veins. The paper concludes with a brief description of the 

 orography and the rocks of the Cordilleran system in 

 Canadian territory, their character as compared with the 

 Laurentian-Appallachian system, and the significance of 

 some of the geological features in relation to national 

 development. 



Some additional facts relative to glacial action are con- 

 tributed by Dr. J. W. Spencer, in "Notes on the Erosive 

 Power of Glaciers as seen in Norway." The three principal 

 glaciers of Norway were visited by the author in 1886. It 

 has hitherto been supposed that stones and boulders are 

 always held in the bottom of the glacier with sufficient 

 firmness to cause them to grind or groove the surface of 

 the rock on which the glacier moves, but the author ques- 

 tions this in cases where the temperature is near the melt- 

 ing point, and gives examples of what he saw. Owing to 

 its viscous or plastic nature, the ice then flows around 

 obstacles, instead of abraiding them as a rigid body would 

 do. At low temperatures, ice is capable of holding stones 

 and sand like graver's tools, and when its mass is much 

 mixed with them, it no doubt planes, scratches and polishes 

 the rock-surface. The action of glacier-ice on meeting with 

 solid obstructions, and in ploughing up loose materials, is 

 described from the author's own observations. The tend- 

 ency of his notes is to show that the erosive power of for- 

 mer glaciers in excavating lake-basins, etc., has, perhaps, 

 been overrated, and he supplies a plea in favour of the 

 action of ice carried forward with greater velocity by ocean 

 currents. The observations of other writers, who agree 

 with him in this view, are quoted, and the conclusion is 



