BELT ON THE GLACIAL PERIOD IN NORTH AMERICA. 105 



icebergs. Thus all the phenomena might be produced that charac- 

 terise a submerged country, excepting remains of marine life. 



The accumulation of ice in the region of Lake Champlain, 

 caused by the valley of the St. Lawrence diverting in that direc- 

 tion that which would otherwise have flowed to the south-east, 

 might furnish the advocates of the excavation of lake basins by ice, 

 with an argument in favour of their theory. 



4. Terraces and stratijied dejwsits. — In Nova Scotia, terraces and 

 stratified beds of sand and gravel are not uncommon. I have 

 noticed a very conspicuous terrace running at the same height on 

 both sides of a valley running into Cole Harbour, and which is cross- 

 ed by the Lawrence-town road. Stratified beds of sand are found in 

 many of the valleys tributary to the Shubenacadie lakes. These 

 undoubtedly point to the action of water, but the entire absence of 

 marine remains might make us pause before we came to the conclu- 

 sion that they were formed by the sea. All the examples that 

 have come under my notice occurred in lateral valleys, such as for 

 instance those running into Cole Harbour, and into the Shuben- 

 acadie lakes. I believe that they were formed on the shores of 

 lakes, caused by the damming up of the lateral valleys by the great 

 glaciers that flowed down the principal ones. 



VI.— CONCLUSION. 



The question that I have discussed in this paper is so extensive 

 that it would require a volume to discuss it fully and in detail. 

 This I have not attempted to do, as not only was it far beyond 

 the limits of this paper, but already the glacial period both in Eu- 

 rope and America, has received great attention from eminent geolo- 

 gists, and its leading facts are well known. I have therefore confined 

 myself to original observations made in Nova Scotia, and to deduc- 

 tions therefrom ; and in the discussion of the general question have' 

 only given prominence to what I believe to be new or modified 

 views respecting the origin of the ice of the glacial period and its 

 mode of action. I will briefly recapitulate the conclusions arrived at. 

 1. The arrangement of the heaps of gravel on the flanks of hills, 

 and the distribution in them of grain gold, in Nova Scotia, are 

 opposed to the theory of the submergence of the country 

 either during or since the glacial period. 



