that the present subject is a deviation from this course ; that 
it is leaving the plain and useful road of practical observa- 
tion, for the regions of a fanciful theory ; and that the ques- 
tion of Glaciers or no Glaciers, is more a matter of amusing 
speculation, than of actual observation and utility. I feel it 
due both to the Society and to the subject under consideration, 
to endeavour to remove these views, if any such are enter- 
tained, and, at all events, to request attention to a few con- 
siderations, which will, I trust, invest the subject with a 
general as well as with a local interest and utility. 
I may observe, then, that the study of natural phenomena 
is never presented in a more attractive form, than when 
it is associated with accompaniments which excite surprise 
and admiration ; and of this description the accompani- 
ments of Glaciers undoubtedly are, inasmuch as they are 
associated with those stupendous chains of mountains, the 
very name of which inspires a feeling of sublimity, and 
the exploration of which never fails to impart the liveliest 
admiration and delight. It is in connection with the moun- 
tains and valleys of our own country, that the evidence of 
glacial action are to be sought for and examined; and the 
tourist of the hio-hlands of Scotland, of the lakes of Cum- 
berland, or the mountains and valleys of Wales, has a new 
source of interest afforded by this train of investigation. If 
the traveller gladly leaves his track to explore a few common- 
place fields, because on or near them a battle was formerly 
fought, or an old castle, or Roman camp, formerly stood — 
is it not equally, if not much more interesting, to occupy his 
time and attention in examining the still more ancient traces 
of geological phenomena, inscribed in a legible manner on 
the surfaces of rocks, and by the frequency of such ob- 
servations, throwing light on the detailed phenomena of the 
stupendous agency by which the surface of the earth has 
been moulded into its present form? In the mining districts, 
