Carboniferous Glaciation , Etc .— White. 
321 
theless, the lessons of the past have taught geologists not to 
be too dogmatic in their creeds, nor too zealous in forcing 
each new and half-discovered increment to knowledge to con¬ 
form wholly within the bounds of creeds suited to the 
limitations of what was known before. 
Concerning paleozoic glaciation in Europe, much has been 
said by many authors. Among the leading contributions 
might be named that of James Geike, 1 in which he attempted 
to show the proofs of glaciation in the conglomerates at the 
base of the Carboniferous in Scotland ; Ramsay’s 2 arguments 
for glaciation in the Permian breccias of the midland counties 
of England; Godwin-Austen’s for the conglomerates underly¬ 
ing the Coal-Measures of France ; 3 Stur’s discussion of the 
rock masses in the Silurian coal-seams; 4 5 and the studies of 
the coal-seam boulders in Europe by Mark Stirrup,* who has 
found some of those in the Lancashire coal to be “similar and 
almost identical in mineralogical composition” to some found 
by professor Orton in the Coal-Measures of Ohio. Bain has 
described a Permian moraine in Prince Edward’s Island 6 and 
James Croll professes to find evidence of assured glaciation in 
nearly all the geological epochs. 7 
It is unadvisable to discuss here the merits of the arguments 
presented in the boulders, conglomerates, and rock masses, 
often of immense weight, found in coal seams, or sometimes 
in silty deposits, of the Carboniferous of the northern hemi¬ 
sphere. Though some of the problems appear inexplicable 
(see Stur), the evidence lacks some characteristic features of 
glaciation, and the question must be regarded as far from 
1 James Geike. The Great Ice Age. London, 1874, 8vo, maps, etc. 
2 A. C. Ramsay. On the occurrence of angular, sub-angular, pol¬ 
ished, and striated fragments and boulders in the Permian breccia of 
Shropshire, Worcestershire, etc., and on the probable existence of 
glaciers and icebergs in the Permian epoch. Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. 
London, xi, 1855, pp. 185-205. 
3 R. God win-Austen. On the possible extension of the Coal-Meas¬ 
ures beneath the south-eastern part of England. Quart. Journ. Geol. 
Soc. London, xii. 1856. pp. 38-73. 
4 D. Stur. Ueber die in Flotzen reiner Steinkohle enthaltenen Stein- 
Rundmassen und Torf-Spharosiderite. Jahrb. K.-K. geol. Reichsanst., 
xxxv, Wein, 1885, pp. 613-648, pi. x, xi. (One mass weighed 55 kilo¬ 
grammes.) 
5 Mark Stirrup. On foreign boulders in coal seams. Rept. Brit. 
Assoc., Montreal meeting, 1884, pp. 686, 688. 
6 F. Bain. On a Permian moraine in Prince Edward’s Island. Can¬ 
adian Rec. Sci, ii, 1887, pp. 341-343. 
7 James Croll. Climate and Time, etc., London, 1875, 8°, 577 pp. 
