18 PROCEEDINGS OF MADISON MEETING. 



pretations than Professor Salisbury in seeking to lay down a definite boundary for 

 this earlier drift. 



The author does not, indeed, recognize, with Professor Salisbury and others, 

 the full import of the evidence of diversity in age of the two drifts, but his excel- 

 lent description of the phenomena clearly indicates the topographic distinction 

 between the areas of older and newer drift, and show that the former must have 

 been much longer subjected to erosion than the latter. 



It seems to me that one of Professor Wright's inferences is open to grave ques- 

 tion. He argues, from the local origin of the materials of the older drift, that the 

 ice-sheet by which it was deposited was thin and feeble. Now, there seem to be 

 good reasons for holding that a thin and feebly acting ice-sheet would not attack 

 the local surface with sufficient energy to produce abundant local debris, and this 

 view is in accord with the glacial phenomena of the Mississippi basin, where, in 

 the region in which the ice-sheet is known to have been thin and of moderate 

 activity, the drift is predominantly erratic, sometimes indeed containing very little 

 local material. 



These are questions, however, of minor importance ; the highly gratifying fact 

 remains that Professor Wright's conclusions are in substantial accord with the 

 work of other geologists in the same region and in other parts of the United States. 



Session of Tuesday Evening, August 15 



The Society was called to order at 8 p m, in the Assembly Chamber of 

 the Capitol, and a lecture illustrated by lantern views was delivered on — 



THE GRAVELS OF GLACIER BAY, ALASKA 

 BY HARRY FIELDING REID 



Session of Wednesday Morning, August 16 



Vice-President Chamberlin called the Society to order at 9 o'clock, 

 and announced the titles of three papers which had been handed in 

 since the printing of the program. 



The Secretary read a communication from Mr G. K. Gilbert, giving 

 reasons for a proposed change in the constitution which would permit 

 the election of active Fellows outside of North America. The Secretary 

 announced and commented upon other changes in the constitution and 

 the by-laws which would be submitted, with the recommendation of the 

 Council, to the Society for action at the winter meeting. 



A letter was read from Professor G. H. Williams, inviting the Society 

 to meet in Baltimore for its winter meeting of 1894. 



The reading of scientific papers was declared in order ; Vice-President 

 Stevenson being called to the chair. 



