Science, Geology and Physics 



the basins of the lakes to glacial excavations, yet there was a 1898 

 counter current in his writings which finally advocated that the s P cncer 

 glacial excavation had taken place only after their courses had 

 been predetermined by river action. Adopting the teachings of 

 Agassiz and Newberry, and going much farther, an influential 

 school was developed which attributed the superficial features of 

 the northern regions almost entirely to the action of continental 

 ice — in spite of the teachings of Lesley, Dawson, Whitney and 

 others. The extreme views, as represented by Dr. G. J. Hinde, 1 

 made the ice plough dig out the St. David's, Dundas and other 

 valleys, irrespective of their direction, as compared with that of 

 the ice flow. Such speculations were most common at the close 

 of the eighth decade of the century, when the writer commenced 

 his studies upon lacustrine history — concerning which his first 

 paper was the " Discovery of the Outlet of the Basin of Lake 

 Erie," 2 etc. ( 1881 ). The appearance of this " avant courier " 

 was due to the enthusiastic reception given by Prof. J. P. Lesley 

 to the writer's discovery of the reduction of rocky barriers 

 beneath the superficial drift between Lake Erie and the Dundas 

 Valley, at the head of Lake Ontario, indicating an outlet for the 

 Erie basin by a channel, the lower end of which is deeply buried 

 by drift deposits. Prof. Lesley pointed out that this discovery 

 satisfied the necessity for some such outlet to the Erie Basin, as 

 Hunt and Newberry had found buried channels beneath the lake, 

 and Mr. J. F. Carll had discovered that the drainage of the 

 Upper Allegheny and other streams had been reversed, having 

 flowed northward into the Erie basin in preglacial days. 



The writer's paper referred to not only described the outlet 

 of the Erie Basin, but also showed that the Niagara River was 

 not needed in ancient times. Shortly afterwards this idea was 



1 Glacial and interglacial strata of Scarboro Heights, etc. Can. Jour., 

 Apr., 1877, p. 24. 



2 Discovery of the Preglacial Outlet of the Basin of Lake Erie into that 

 of Lake Ontario; with notes on the origin of our Lower Great Lakes. 

 Spencer; Proc. Am. Phil. Soc, XIX, 198, 2n., Mar. 30, 1881, 

 pp. 300-337. 



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