( 8i ) 
Potter Place and Andover Centre, point with the valley, and these 
have been thought to indicate a local valley glacier. But the 
gradual change in the direction of the striae on the ridge, which I 
have already noted, leads me to believe that the supposition of a 
local glacier is unnecessary to explain the facts. Moreover, the 
striae in the Blackwater Valley are very nearly parallel with those 
on the south side of Kearsarge, which certainly could not have 
been formed by a local glacier. 
It seems to me, then, that all the striae about Mounts Kearsarge 
and Ragged thus far recorded, are easily referable to a single great 
ice sheet moving in a southeasterly direction. In this view I 
appear to differ from the New Hampshire geologists ; for in their 
report, not only are the striae in the Blackwater Valley referred to 
a local glacier, but the southerly striae on the west of the mountains 
are ascribed to a general southerly ice movement, subsequent to 
the southeasterly one, and we are told (vol. i, p. 541) that during 
the later movement Kearsarge and Ragged stood up as islands in 
the ice sea. I do not wish to deny, on the strength of these few 
observations, the existence of this southerly movement, or of the 
Blackwater glacier, but only to point out that neither supposition 
appears to be necessary to account for the observed facts in the 
vicinity of Kearsarge. 
The deflection of the ice current by local topographical features 
has been observed almost everywhere where glacial action has 
been studied. My excuse for emphasizing it in these notes on 
Kearsarge is : first, because the action is there finely illustrated, 
and second, for the reason that, according to Prof. Hitchcock, 
topographical deflection is not commonly apparent in the glacial 
markings of New Hampshire. He says (Geology of New Hamp¬ 
shire, III, p. 202) : “ In our researches we have constantly asked, 
how do topographical features influence the course of striae? The 
replies forced upon us insist that a portion of the directions is due 
to topographical features, while others—the majority—pursue a 
fixed course, in total disregard for all obstacles.” 
So much then for the rock striations. But these, though per¬ 
haps the most interesting, are not the most prominent glacial phe¬ 
nomena in the vicinity. The planishment of the ledges, esjDecially 
on the summit, could hardly fail to attract the attention of the 
