258 The American Geologist. October. i90i. 
Another class of drift material has a somewhat remarkable 
occurrence as long- sinuous ridges, known in Scotland as knmes, 
in Ireland as cskers, and in Scandinavia, as osar, Avhich con- 
sist sometimes of boulders and conglomerate detritus, but more 
often of more or less stratified gravel and sand, their general 
course corresponding to the direction of glacial striation, with 
the layers frequently declining toward the south. The term 
Osar. Asar, or Eskers has been more particularly applied to 
these forms in American literature, reserving the term Kame 
to especially define the conical hills, inverted bowd-shaped prom- 
inences, and short ridges that usually abound in the vicinity 
of terminal moraines, and stand "transverse to the course of 
the valley and the direction of drift movement." 
Both eskers and kame. are presumed to be due to practical- 
ly, the same influence, namely that of running water in connec- 
tion witl; ice movement, though such is in all respects not per- 
fectly conclusive. A study of the IMalasj.nna glacier by Prof. 
Russell has resulted in the observation of Asar in process of 
formation. These are shown to be of glacio-fluvial origin, 
and formed in accordance with accepted theories for the pro- 
duction of those of the ice sheet. * 
The American eskers are said to be essentially similar to 
the Asar of Sweden, and are exceptionally well developed in 
New England, and particularlv so in Maine where they have 
been carefully studied by Stone, t Over thirty separate sys- 
tems have been worked out in that state, two of the longer ones, 
the Katahdin. and Seboois-Kingman-Columbia systems being 
each about T25 miles m length. Eskers also occur in the m.id- 
dle states and sparingly in Canada. Kames are very abiuidant 
in America associated with the terminal moraines from the At- 
lantic through the western states, and have been with the eskers 
carefully studied. J 
The appearance of the topography in regions where eskers 
and kames are numerous is that of a complex and irregularl) 
distributed arrangement of hills of more or less gracefully 
*Jour of Geo!., 1893. 
tSee paper "The Karnes of Maine." Proc. A. A. A. S., 1880, also 
"The Glacial Gravels of Maine and their Associated Deposits," U. S. 
Geol. Survey. Monograph 34. 1899. George H. Stone. 
JFor a part of the more recent literature on the subject see. N. S. 
Shaler, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 23, 1884; Ninth Annual report, 
r. S. Geol. Survev. 1SS7-SS; AV. O. Crosbv, Physical History of Boston 
Basin, 1889; 11 D. Salisburv, Ann. Kept, of New Jersey Geol. Surv., 1891; 
I. C. Russell, Amer. Geql., Vol. 12, 1893; W. M. Davis. Bull. Geol. Soc. 
Amer., Vol 1. 
