CLOUDS AND KIVEKS, ICE AND GLACIERS, 49 



between the glacier below the ice-fall and the plateau 

 above it there must exist a line where the quantity of 

 snow which falls is exactly equal to the quantity annually 

 melted. This is the snow-line. On some glaciers it is 

 quite distinct, and it would be distinct here were the 

 ice less broken and confused than it actually is. 



127. The French term neve is applied to the glacial 

 region above the snow-line, while the word glacier is 

 restricted to the ice below it. Thus the snows of the 

 Col du Geant constitute the neve of the Glacier du 

 Geant, and in part, the neve of the Mer de Glace. 



123. But if every year thus leaves a residue of snow 

 apon the plateau of the Col du Geant, it necessarily fol- 

 lows that the plateau must get annually higher, pro- 

 vided the snow remain upon it. Equally certain is the 

 conclusion that the whole length of the glacier below 

 the cascade must sink gradually lower, if the waste of 

 annual melting be not made good. Supposing two feet of 

 snow a year to remain upon the Col, this would raise 

 it to a height far surpassing that of Mont Blanc in 

 five thousand years. Such accumulation must take place 

 if the snow remain upon the Col ; but the accumulation 

 dues not take place, hence the snow does not remain 

 on the Col. The question then is, whither does it go ? 



