Miit'r QJnc'n^r lirgloii. AJosla. — ('iixliiu(j. 215 
comparing the position and extent of the glacier in 1886 with its 
condition in 1890. Mr. Baldwins photographs of the ice front 
show that in 1886 its position was at least half a mile further to 
the south than was the case in 1890. No direct measurements 
on the ground were possible, and the ice front was of such en- 
tirely different shape at the two periods, that, at best, only an 
average could have been ascertained. The amount of retreat has 
been greater in the central part of the glacier which terminates in 
the water, its ice breaking off' and floating away, than at the 
sides, which I retreat only by slow melting where thev lie. 
Wrights map and photographs show the seaward portion of the 
ice extending further to- the south than the wings on land, the 
most southerly point of all being in the centre. In 1890, on the 
other hand the most southerl}- points of the ice front were the 
wings — see map — and the Avater front was deeply concave, the 
greatest recession, probably not far from a mile, being near 
the centre. The amount which the wings have retreated has been 
comparatively small. The testimony of the officers of the steam- 
ers which have been entering Glacier Ija}' since 1883, is unani- 
mous that the ice has retreated considerably since that time, the 
estimates running from one to two miles. The testimonj' is cred- 
ible as a new place for anchorage must be sought every year. 
Half a mile in four years is a tolerably rapid rate of recession, 
should it prove to be at all an average one. 
The hight of the central portion of the ice front above the 
water in 1890 was about 250 feet, the same that Prof. Wright 
records.* This, however, was the hight of his projecting point. 
To points on the front somewhat back of that, he gives a hight 
of 300 feet. Soundings as close to the ice front as practicable 
show about the same depth of water, somewhere in the neighbor- 
hood of 600 feet on an average. There has evidently been a con- 
siderable shrinkage in thickness in the four years interval. The 
ice front in 1890 was not far removed in position from the line along 
which Prof. Wright states it to have had a hight of 408feetinl886.t 
Its greatest hight in 1890 was 250 feet. Wright'.s photographs 
indicate also a greater thickness of the ice in the Western branch, 
judging from the hight to which it rises on the mountain sides 
adjoining, as compared with that exhibited in the photographs of 
*Ice Age in North America, p, 43, 
tibid., jip. 4:3 and 40. 
