150 THE FOKMS OF WATEE IN 



vast extension of the ancient ice. M. Agassiz after- 

 wards developed and wonderfully expanded the dis- 

 covery. Perhaps the most interesting observation 

 regarding ancient glaciers is that of Dr. Hooker, 

 who, during a recent visit to Palestine, found the 

 celebrated Cedars of Lebanon growing upon ancient 

 moraines. 



§ 55. Ancient Glaciers of England, Ireland, Scotland, 

 and Wales. 



374. At the time the ice attained this extraordinary 

 development in the Alps, many other portions of Europe, 

 where no glaciers now exist, were covered with them. 

 In the Highlands of Scotland, among the mountains oi 

 England, Ireland, and Wales, the ancient glaciers have 

 written their story as plainly as in the Alps themselves. 

 I should like to wander with you through Borrodale in 

 Cumberland, or through the valleys near Bethgellert in 

 Wales. Under all the beauty of the present scenery we 

 should discover the memorials of a time when the whole 

 region was locked in the embrace of ice. Professor 

 Ramsay is especially distinguished by his writings on 

 the ancient glaciers of Wales. 



375. We have made the acquaintance of the Reeks 

 of Magillicuddy as the great condensers of Atlantic 

 vapour. At the time now referred to, this moisture 

 did not fall as soft and fructifying rain, but as snow, 

 which formed the nutriment of great glaciers. A chain 



