David Milne-Home on Ancient Glaciers. 53 
of detritus, undoubtedly deposited as a moraine by glacier of 
Argentier. Its situation, height, and extent, bear to that 
glacier exactly same relations as the hill of Lisboli does to 
the Mer de Glace. The height of this old moraine I found 
to be from 250 to 300 feet above adjoining plain. At present 
it terminates in middle of valley, as Lisboli does, with the 
Arve washing its northern extremity. But it had evidently 
crossed valley, as there is on north of Arve another heap of 
detritus which exactly corresponds in position, direction, and 
height. 
(2.) Still more undoubted traces of an ancient glacier to be 
seen in the smoothed sides of rocky pass close to the moraine 
now described, and which leads north into Val Orsine. Be- 
yond this pass there is a col or summit, about a mile distant, 
called by my guide Moente, and the height of which I made 
out to be (by sympiesometer) about 600 feet about valley of 
Argentier. On the north side of this summit, valley slopes 
down to north, and is strewed by granite blocks of enormous 
size, and exceedingly angular in shape. This village opens 
into the greater valley of the Rhone, a little below Martigny. 
- The supposition is, that the glacier which formerly passed 
this way was no other than that now known as the Argentier 
Glacier. In this opinion I concur; and I believe also that the 
glacier of La Tour, which is a few miles east of Argentier, 
must have united with latter to pass the same way. 
Since my return home, I became acquainted with a paper 
by my friend Mr R, Chambers, in which he expresses rather 
strongly his doubts as to probability of the Argentier Glacier 
having passed through the Val Orsine. He admits that it 
was, like all the alpine glaciers, on a much larger scale at a 
former period, but thinks that 1t must have descended by 
Chamouni. The levels, however, are repugnant to this view. 
We have seen that when the Mer de Glace choked up the 
valley and abutted on the hill of Flegére, it must have reached 
a height there of at least 2700 feet above Chamouni. Now the 
pass into the Val Orsine is only 1250 feet above Chamouni, 
so that this valley afforded both a more direct and a more 
easy outlet for Argentier and La Tour Glaciers, than the 
other route suggested. 
