226 The Great Ice Age and Origin of the “Till” [April, 
sits had reached the critical or neutral height. Such a 
pavement would continually extend outwards. 
The only sorting of the material likely to occur under 
these conditions would be that due to the earlier deposi- 
tion and entanglement of the larger fragments, thus pro- 
ducing a more stony deposit nearer inland, just as Mr. Geikie 
describes the adtual deposits of till where, “ generally 
speaking, the stones are most numerous in the till of hilly 
districts ; while at the lower levels of the country the clayey 
character of the mass is upon the whole more pronounced.” 
These “ hilly districts,” upon the supposition of greater 
submergence, would be the near shore regions, and the lower 
levels the deeper sea where the glacier floated freely. 
The following is Mr. Geikie’s description of the distribu- 
tion of the till (page 13) : — “ It is in the lower-lying districts 
of the country where till appears in greatest force. Wide 
areas of the central counties are covered up with it conti- 
nuously, to a depth varying from two or three feet up to one 
hundred feet and more. But as we follow it towards the 
mountain regions it becomes thinner and more interrupted 
— the naked rock ever and anon peering through, until at 
last we find only a few shreds and patches lying here and 
there in sheltered hollows of the hills. Throughout the 
Northern Highlands it occurs but rarely, and only in little 
isolated patches. It is not until we get away from the steep 
rocky declivities and narrow glens and gorges, and enter 
upon the broader valleys that open out from the base of the 
highland mountains to the low-lying districts beyond, that 
we meet with any considerable deposits of stony clay. The 
higher districts of the Southern Uplands are almost equally 
free from any covering of till.” 
This description is precisely the same as I must have 
written, had I so far continued my imaginary sketch of the 
results of ancient glaciation as to picture what must remain 
after they had all melted away, and the sea had receded 
sufficiently to expose their submarine deposits. 
Throughout the above I have assumed a considerable 
submergence of the land as compared with the present sea- 
level on the coasts of Scotland, Scandinavia, &c. 
The universality of the terraces in all the Norwegian 
valleys opening westward proves a submergence of at least 
600 or 700 feet. When I first visited Norway, in 1856, I 
accepted the usual description of these as alluvial deposits; 
was looking for glacial vestiges in the form of moraines, and 
thus quite failed to observe the true nature of these 
vast accumulations, which was obvious enough when I 
