198 
Hints for the Formation of 
6. The situation of its precipices in regard to the sea 
and the nearest plains, valleys, and mountains.* 
7- Its nature, and the kind of stone of which it is com- 
posed. Whether it be homogeneous ; that is to say, of 
the same nature throughout all its parts ; if it be not, to 
determine the dimensions of its different parts. 
8. Whether it consists of indivisible masses, or masses 
divided by strata. 
9. Whether it contains mines either in veins or strata : 
the nature of these mines. 
10. To observe the height at which the snow is perpe- 
tual, or what Bouguer calls the lower limits of the snow , 
and the height at which trees, shrubs, and plants, with 
distinct flowers, cease to grow. These observations have 
been neglected in the northern countries. 
11. To observe carefully the increase or decrease of 
the glaciers : to determine them, in particular, by what 
are called moraines , that is to say, those heaps of stones 
now or formerly deposited by the glaciers on their edges 
and at their extremities. 
11. A. To ascertain whether there are found in the 
mountains sunk or petrified trees, at heights at which they 
would not grow at present ; and to examine if it thence 
follows that there may have been a time when the upper 
strata of the atmosphere were warmer than they are at 
present. 
IS. Caverns : if there are any, their form and dimen- 
sions ; the nature of their sides ; the nature and inclina- 
tion of their bottom ; vestiges of the effects of the water 
by which they may have been formed ; stalactites and 
incrustations, foreign bodies and bones which they may 
contain. 
18. Whether there are found vestiges of large basons 
* And in regard to the four cardinal points ; whether any side is more steep 
than another, and which side ? Til. 
