Niagara Falls 



1895 there are a few who recognize it as a great natural engine, and in 

 Gilbert j ts ac ti v ity anc J it 3 surroundings see an impressive object lesson 



of geographic progress. Its aesthetic and utilitarian aspects need 

 no expounder, but its geographic significance is too little appre- 

 ciated. This paper endeavors to tell in simple language some of 

 the lore of the professional geographer and geologist, in order 

 that the layman may gain pleasure not only from the beauty and 

 grandeur of the scene, but through understanding its meaning as 

 a part in the great drama of nature. 



This monograph may be regarded as an explanatory account 

 of Niagara Falls and the associated natural features. 



The same article appears in the 1 0th Annual Report of the Queen 

 Victoria Niagara Falls Park Commissioners (1895). 



1895 Spencer, Joseph William Winthrop. The duration of Niagara 



Spencer Falls and the history of the great lakes. ... 2d ed. N. Y. : 



Humboldt. (1895.) Pp. 99-117. 



"An excellent series of papers explaining the geological features and 

 history of Niagara Falls and environs." — Am. jour, sci., 151 :398. 



This volume consists of a series of articles previously printed in various 

 scientific journals. It forms part of the 1 1 th Annual Report of the Com- 

 missioners of the State Reservation at Niagara for the year 1 893-94. 



Chapter IX treats of the history and duration of Niagara Falls, taking 

 up various conjectures as to the age of the Falls, the geology of the dis- 

 trict, ancient topography and basement, discharge of the Niagara river, 

 modern recession of the Falls, episodes of the river and the duration of 

 each, the age of the Falls and their relation to geological time, with specu- 

 lations as to the end of the Falls. A contribution of special interest is the 

 discussion of the work accomplished by the river during each of the episodes 

 of its history. 



Ancient Topography and Basement 



In the numerous writings upon the Niagara river one ancient 

 topographic feature has been overlooked and another exagger- 

 ated into importance which it does not possess. The ancient 

 drainage of the Erie basin was not by way of the Niagara, but 



590 



