202 PROCEEDINGS OE THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIEIT. [Mar. 5, 



find that, from the Atlantic coast to the St. Lawrence, through New 

 Hampshire, Vermont, the north of the State of New York, Maine, 

 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Gaspe, and Newfoundland, the whole 

 continent is strewn with lakes. North of the St. Lawrence and 

 the great lakes, as far as the Arctic Ocean, the same sprinkling of 

 unnumbered lakes over the entire face of the country is even more 

 remarkable ; and it is a curious circumstance that a large part of 

 this vast area is so low and undulating, that some of its lakes drain 

 two ways — towards the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, or towards 

 the North Sea and the North Atlantic. This vast country, about as 

 far south as lat. 40°, shows, almost universally, marked signs of the 

 strongest glacial action, in the moutonnee forms, polish, and constantly 

 recurring striation of the rocks. I have only seen a few of the 

 above-mentioned lakes south of Lake Ontario ; but I have closely 

 questioned that able observer. Dr. Hector, who has examined the 

 country north and west of the great American lakes, and he informs 

 me that, though unable to account for it, he was struck with the cir- 

 cumstance that so many (he thought he might say all) of the smaller 

 lakes are in rock-hasins. I connect this circumstance with the 

 universal giaciation of the country, still evinced on the grandest pos- 

 sible scale by every sign of ancient ice. These signs, I now believe, 

 are far too universal and unvarying in their general directions to 

 have been produced merely by floating ice, though in part of the glacial 

 history of the continent floating ice has undoubtedly left large 

 traces. But the lake-basins could only, I believe, have been scooped 

 out by true continental glacier-ice, like that of Greenland ; for the 

 lakes are universal in all the ice-worn region *. 

 . On the eastern side of the Atlantic, Wales, Cumberland, many 

 parts of Ireland, the North Highlands, and some of the Western 

 Isles are also dotted with unnumbered lakes and tarns. All 

 of these are well-glaciated countries, both high and low ; and for 

 Wales and many parts of Scotland, I can answer that by far the 

 greater proportion of these lakes lie in rock-basins of truly glacial 

 origin f. 



* Since this memoir was written, I have conversed on the subject with Sir 

 Wm. Logan, Director of the Greological Survey of Canada, who not only agrees 

 in my views with respect to the origin of American lakes in general, but also 

 believes that the great American lake-basins may have been scooped out by the 

 same means. They are all true rock-basins, in areas occupied by comparatively 

 soft rocks surrounded by harder strata. Given sufficient time, I see no difficulty 

 in this yiew, to which I inclined while writing this paper, but refrained from 

 stating it, considering that most readers woidd think it too strong, and thus 

 that in general opinion I might damage the whole theory. Sir William says 

 that the arrangement of the strata proves that the great lakes do not lie in areas 

 of special subsidence. 



t See ' The Old G-laciers of North Wales.' When I published my account 

 of these glaciers, I was too timid to include the Lakes of Llanberis, Llyn Ogwen, 

 Llyn Cwellyn, and some others of the larger lakes in this category. I now 

 feel convinced that they are true rock-basins, and also that the shallower pools 

 of Llyn Llegeirin, Llyn FeUn-y-nant, and others in Anglesea had the same origin. 

 The horizontal striations far up the side of Carnedd Dafydd, by Llyn Ogwen, 

 were probably made by a glacier of immense thickness during the first great 

 glacier-period, preceding the deposition of the stratified drift. 



