GLACIERS. 
sublimity of tlieir country, when they de- 
scended with honey and chrystals for sale, 
determined to visit those frightful regions of 
ice which had received the appellation of 
Les Montagnes Maudites, or the accursed 
mountains ; the gentlemen alluded to took 
every precaution for securing their safety ; 
but entertaining many well-grounded fears, 
naturally arising from a first attempt, they 
did not reach any considerable distance be- 
yond the edge of the ice in the valley ot 
Montanvert, yet their example operated so 
powerfully as to induce several others 
to imitate them, and proceed to the boun- 
dary whence they returned ; at length M. 
de Saussure had the resolution and courage 
to penetrate across the ice to the very ex- 
tremities of the vallies ; Mr. Coxe followed 
soon after : and every possible information 
may be obtained from their publications 
yrhich the nature of the subject will per- 
mit. 
The most astonishing phenomenon at- 
tending the glaciers, is their near approach 
to the usual vegetation of summer, for what 
can be more wonderful than to view wheat 
ready for the sickle, parched brown by the 
rays of the sun, separated only by the in- 
tervention of a few feet from the chilling 
influence of an endless bed of ice, which 
seems impenetrable to its rays. 
Many systems and theories have been in- 
geniously suggested to ascertain the first 
cause of the glaciers, tlieir maintenance, and 
whether they increase or diminish in extent, 
of which Gruner’s, improved and illus- 
trated with actual observation by M. de 
Saussure, is the most rational and probable, 
and Mr. Coxe implicitly adopts it. Admit- 
ting that a person could be raised suffi- 
ciently above the summits of the Alps of 
Switzerland, Savoy, and Dauphine, to com- 
prehend the whole at one view, he would 
observe a vast chaos of mountains and val- 
lies, with several parallel chains, the highest 
of which are situated in the centre, and the 
remainder gradually lessening as they retire 
from it. The central chain he would find 
to be surmounted by stupendous fragments 
of rock, towering in rude masses, which 
bear vast accumulations of snow and ice 
where they are not decidedly perpendicu- 
lar, or do not overhang tliejr bases ; on each 
side he would see the intervening chasms 
and gulphs, filled with ice, descending 
thence even into the verdant vallies rich 
with foliage and cultivation. The inferior 
ranges of mountains, next the central, pre- 
sent the same appearance in a lesser degree, 
but in those more remote the snow am! 
ice is confined to the most elevated points ; 
and others, still further removed, are cover- 
ed with grass and plants, which, in their 
turn, give place to the hills and vallies com- 
mon in any part of the world. 
Mr. Coxe divides the glaciers in the 
above general survey into two classes, the 
first occupy the deep vallies situated in the 
bosom of the Alps, and the second adhere 
to the sides and summits of the mountains. 
Those in the vallies are far more extensive 
than the upper glaciers, some are several 
leagues in length, and that of Des Bois is 
three miles broad and fifteen long ; but 
they do not communicate with each other, 
and there are few parallel to the central 
chain ; their upper extremities are connect- 
ed with inaccessible precipices, and the 
lower proceed as already mentioned, quite 
into the vales ; the depth of these astonish- 
ing accumulations of frozen fluid vary from 
80 to 600 feet, and they generally rest on 
an inclined plane ; urged forward by their 
own enormous weight, and but weakly sup- 
ported by the pointed rocks inserted in 
their bases, they are universally intersect- 
ed by yawning chasms of dreadful aspect 
to the curious investigator, who beholds 
fanciful representations of walls, towers, 
and pyramids, on every side of him ; but 
upon reaching those parts were the glacier 
rests upon an horizontal plane, his progress 
is seldom impeded by considerable fissures, 
and he walks in safety over a surface nearly 
uniform, and not so perfectly polished as 
that of ponds and rivers suddenly and vio- 
lently frozen. The absence of transpa- 
rency, the various marks of air bubbles, and 
the general roughness, so perfectly resem- 
ble the congelation of snow, when half 
restored to fluidity, that M. de Saussure 
was immediately led to form the following 
probable theory of the formation of the 
glaciers. 
Snow is constantly accumulating in the 
recesses or depths of the mountains, during 
nine months of the year, by the usual fall of 
moisture, and the descent of vast masses 
borne down by their weight from the pre- 
cipices and crags above. Part of this is 
necessarily reduced to water by slight 
thaws and casual rains, and being frozen in 
this state the glacier is composed of a po- 
rous opaque ice, 
The upper glaciers, Mr. Coxe subdivides 
into those which cover the summits, and 
those which extend along the sides of the 
Alps ; the former originate from the snow 
