Bouv£.] 
174 
[Dec. 17, 
In quite a full account of the “Karnes of New England” by the 
Rev. G. F. Wright, published in our Proceedings, Vol. xxii, Part 
2, there are several ridges mentioned which have been traced over 
one hundred miles. 
Before proceeding further it is necessary to state that the term 
“Karnes” is not now used so restrictively as formerly, when it was 
applied only to the long ridges of glacial material referred to, but 
is made to include the numerous hills and hillocks of the same 
character which are found often associated with the ridges, espec- 
ially towards the termination of the ice-sheet, and like them deposited 
by the melting ice during its retreat from the surface. The mate- 
rial is the same and its origin the same, the only difference consist- 
ing in the method of its deposition. 
Kettle -Holes. 
There are frequently found among the kame hills and hillocks, 
and often alongside the ridges, deep depressions of the surface, 
sometimes many acres in extent, which are known as kettle-holes. 
Their origin, formerly a puzzle to students of glacial phenomena, 
is no longer so, as nature has been detected in the very act of their 
formation. From observations of Dr. G. F. Wright upon the 
glaciers of Alaska, he found that when a considerable surface of a 
melting ice-sheet had been covered over to any depth with earth 
material, rocks, pebbles and sand, the ice thus prevented from 
melting beneath remained intact, whilst all more exposed over the 
field sunk away and finally disappeared. The result of this was to 
leave a great mass, sometimes of large area, to settle as the glacier 
retreated from it with enormous weight upon the subsoil below. 
Here it would remain until melted and it might require the heat of 
many summers to effect its entire dissolution, protected as it would 
be from the sun’s rays by its earthy covering. As, however, the 
melting progressed, this covering matter would necessarily slide 
down around its margin, producing ridges and hillocks of material, 
the forms of which would be more or less modified by the running 
water from the ice as it dissolved away. With the accumulated 
quantity of matter thus deposited, the resting-place of the ice mass 
would be much below the surrounding surface. After knowing 
Dr. Wright’s investigations, it may be confidently stated that there 
can no longer be an} 7 reasonable doubt concerning the origin of 
these depressions. 
