Perry.] 



62 December 7, 



ness of the scenery and healthfullness of the climate. He 

 also exhibited and presented to the Society valuable speci- 

 mens of minerals collected during his visit, and referred to 

 this section of the country as one possessing peculiar attrac- 

 tions for the students of Natural History. 



Rev. R. C. Waterston, by invitation, spoke briefly of his 

 recent visit to California, and was requested to make a more 

 extended statement at a future meeting. 



December 7, 1870. 



Prof. A. Hyatt in the chair. Forty-four persons present. 



The following is a brief abstract of a paper which will 

 appear in full in the future pages of these Proceedings : — 



On the Glacial Period in New England. By Rev. 

 J. B. Perry. 



Mr. Perry introduced his communication with the remark that it 

 contained the main results of his studies in this direction during the 

 past fifteen years. 



Proceeding at the outset to give a brief account of the indications 

 of ice-agency, he first enumerated those furnished by the underlying 

 rock-masses. These are erosion, as of lake-beds, and the like ; plan- 

 ation, as almost every newly-bared surface indicates ; also striation, 

 as witnessed by the countless scratches and furrows on the rocky floor 

 of the country. 



Next were brought into view the facts indicative of ice-agency 

 from the overlying material. These are such as the composition of 

 typical drift, it being generally different from that of the subjacent 

 rocks; its derivation, it having been for the most part brought a short 

 distance from the north ; as well as its condition, it invariably being 

 a heterogeneous jumble. 



Indications from incidental phenomena were likewise noticed ; such 

 as the accumulation of travelled matter, moraines being an instance ; 



