483 
of Edinburgh, Session 1874 - 75 . 
ances embedded in it, and to press them against the hillside with 
enormous force, so as to groove the rock face in passing. As 
viewed from a little distance, the scorings appear to he nearly 
paralled and horizontal. But on examining such as can be 
reached, I found, on using the clinometer, that this is by no means 
the case. On one patch of rock I found two striae within 18 
inches of each other, the upper of which had a dip of 4° and the 
lower a dip of 20°, and both markings were dipping towards the 
west, being the direction from whence the movement -came, as 
indicated by the “ tail” on the eastern side of the Law. But the 
rise in the direction of motion indicated by these two striae may 
have been caused by local pressure, due to the obstructions offered 
to the passage of the mass by the Law. The effect of this would 
be to elevate the mass ; and this I think points to ice carrying 
imbedded stones as probably the agent which has so distinctly 
chronicled its passage over or round the hill, while the rise on these 
lines indicate that the moving mass must have been under 
enormous pressure ; and this again is perhaps sufficient to account 
for the cutting of the deep grooves left in the rocky face. In 
short, the appearances I have noticed seem to be such as might 
naturally result from such glacial action as Forbes has recorded, 
when he says, “ when the ice of the glacier abuts against the foot 
of Mont Chetif it is violently forced forward, as if it would make 
its way up the face of the hill.” * 
The markings I have described have, till a comparatively recent 
period, been covered by debris, which has fallen from the upper 
portion of the Law, and formed a glacis at its base. The removal of a 
portion of this debris, extending to about 200 feet, as a quarry for 
road metal, has disclosed the original surface of the rock, and 
revealed the features I have described. A similar mass of debris 
extends along the whole northern and southern faces of the hill, 
and if it were removed, I have no doubt similar markings would 
be found to extend along both sides. I believe some traces of 
glacial action have been found at a high level on the western face 
of the Law ; but I carefully examined the north and south faces 
of the hill, and could not, in their present buried up state, find 
Travels in the Alps, page 205. 
