* 
L. Lesquereux on the Origin and Formation of Prairies. 27 
urse. And though the movement is slow, 
the materials carried on the back of the glaciers (moraines) are 
continually mixing and in a confused mass, and thus, though 
their thickness may be great, they are at repeated times ex- 
posed to atmospheric action. How then could it be supposed 
that mere seeds, especially large ones, like acorns, nuts, beech 
nuts, etc., could have resisted the crushing action of ice; when 
ard stones have been ground into sand and mud. For, accord- 
ing to the theory, the seeds ought to have been preserved within 
the transported materials, as it is positively stated that diluvial 
materials are full of seeds. 
Prof. Winchell says, “The general effect of the events which 
ushered in and marked the progress of the reign of ice was to 
destroy the vegetation flourishing over all the northern portion 
of the continent, and mingle its forms with cubic miles of debris 
- detached from the under-lying rocks,” ete. at has become 
of these forms of vegetation, remains of vast destroyed forests 
which have produced those seeds with which the diluvial is replete ? 
Are trunks and branches of trees more difficult to preserve than 
seeds? Who has found those trunks and limbs of trees buried 50 
Conifers heaped in patches, within sandy clay, and which do 
om This Journal, 1, Cy, p. 834. re i es ‘sige 
e 
