Editorial Co?nntent. 189 
connection with the casual relation of the glacial phenomena. 
The glacial drift is as much a scientific fact as the volcanic cone 
of Vesuvius. The latter is seen in process of construction 
just as striae, moraines, etc., are seen in the process of forma- 
tion. As well might geologists speak of the oceanic theory 
with reference to rock strata as longer to speak of the glacial 
theory with reference to glacial deposits. 
EDITORIAL COMMENT. 
The West Coast of Greenland. 
In a recent article by David White and Charles Schuchert, 
of the U. S. National Museum, published by the Geological 
Society of America, the authors come to the following conclu- 
sions. The observations were made in the summer of 1897 
in connection with the expedition of Lieut. Peary of that year: 
(i) The Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks in the region de- 
scribed lie everywhere unconformably upon a hilly basement 
of old crystallines, chiefly gneiss and diorite (Kaersut, Pag- 
torfik, Ekorfat), or upon early Cretaceous or pre-Creta- 
ceous (?) basalts (Niakornat, Alinaitsunguak, Atanikerdluk). 
The greatest altitude of the sedimentary terranes is at Atani- 
kerdluk, 3,040 feet above sealevel. The old basalts are highly 
altered and usually occur as breccias (Niakornat, Alinaitsun- 
guak). 
(2) The prevailing easterly dips of the Lower Cretaceous 
along the north side of Nugsuak peninsula, in which the strata 
should dip westerly, since it is in that direction that the nigher 
and younger beds appear, may be in part explained bv fault 
compensation, as illustrated at Ujarartorsuak. A certain de- 
gree of irregularity of dip, the variable and often strong coast- 
ward dips, as well as the low altitude of the Tertiary at its 
eastern border on the south side of the peninsula (Atanikerd- 
luk), are probably due to inecjuality in the post-Tertiary 
epeirogenic movements. 
(3) The sediments appear to have been derived from the 
east, since the light-colored sandstones and conglomerates arc 
