9 



shire hills" (an imaginative sketch of which embellishes the work), was 

 carved out " untold ages ago by the men of the drift " (page 15). 



It should be added that Mr. Doughty rejects the " well-known 

 glacial theory" and accepts the view of Ignatius Donnelly, that "the 

 drift was suddenly thrown upon the earth either by the contact of our 

 planet with a comet or by some other agency not understood" (page 7). 



In brief the book is a bundle of absurdities worthy of notice only 

 because it is representative of the vain imaginings so prevalent among 

 unscientific collectors and because its maleficent influence has been multi- 

 plied by favorable press notices. 



in 



The Reverend Professor Wright begins with an introductory chapter, 

 in which he discusses the characters of existing glaciers. He says: "A 

 glacier is a mass of ice so situated and of such a size as to have motion 

 in itself. * * * Upon ascending a glacier far enough, one reaches a 

 part corresponding to the lake out of which a river often flows. Technic- 

 ally this motionless part is called the neve. * * * The neve is the 

 reservoir from which the glacier gets both its supply of ice and the impulse 

 which gives it its first movement" (pages 2, 3). Unfortunately the 

 author does not indicate how a moving body can have a motionless part, 

 (E) nor how it receives both matter and motion from this motionless part. 

 He fails, in short, to indicate what portion, if any, of his statement is true. 1 



The second chapter treats of existing glaciers and the third of glacial 

 motion, and in so far as they are made up of quotations from trust- 

 worthy observers are worthy of high confidence. It is to be regretted, 



(Note E) This plain inaccuracy must have given Mr. McGee great joy, 

 and fortunately it would mislead no one else. It was evidently not one of 

 judgment. It may not have been the author's. If before the word "motion- 

 less " is inserted " nearly" or "apparently " or (if the author had in mind 

 some former writers) "so-called," the grammar would be perfect. The 

 meaning is clear. The neve is not absolutely motionless, but is described as 

 a "lake out of which a river flows, " which has some motion or it would never 

 get to the outlet. See remarks of Mr, S. F. Emmons and Mr. W. H. 

 Dall of the United States Geologic Survey, vol. vii, Bulletin of the Philo- 

 sophical Society of Washington, p. 37 (meeting of May 10, 1884). 



1 Our foremost glacialist, Professor T. C. Chamberlin, says of this remarkable ex- 

 position: "As a matter of fact, the neve moves like other parts of a glacier, and the 

 signs of 6uch motion are indicated in the cut on the very page before the reader as he 

 follows this astonishing statement. The motion of the neve has been a matter of 

 common knowledge for half a century, and is absolutely beyond question. The com- 

 parison with a lake is wholly misleading, and evidently springs from a fundamental 

 misconception of a glacier." — The Dial, vol xiii, 1892, p. 303. 



