MODERN CHANGES 
io 3 
view of the theorist there is special interest in the history 
of changes in regions remote from those which have here¬ 
tofore received chief attention. Comparatively little is 
known of the history of American glaciers, but the avail¬ 
able data have been carefully collated by Russell 1 and 
Reid, 2 and an important contribution has recently been 
made by Klotz. 3 
The local descriptions of the preceding pages contain 
the additional observations made by the Harriman Ex¬ 
pedition, together with inferences as to modern changes; 
but as the paragraphs on variations are somewhat scat¬ 
tered, the principal inferences are here assembled in re¬ 
sume. The geographic order, from east to west, is re¬ 
tained. 
In Glacier Bay the observations pertain to a large area, 
containing at the present time a considerable number of 
separate trunk glaciers. The data concerning variations 
are not equally full in all parts, but so far as comparable 
they are harmonious. It is probable that the history of the 
whole district centering in the bay is a unit. The history 
begins with an epoch when the glaciers were smaller than 
now. During this epoch a forest grew to maturity and 
then was overwhelmed by gravelly waste from the ice; 
the epoch was therefore measured by centuries. The 
glaciers then advanced many miles, attaining a maximum 
one hundred or one hundred and fifty years ago, and they 
have since retreated. Measured to the Muir Glacier, the 
total retreat to 1899 was more than fifteen miles; meas¬ 
ured to the Grand Pacific, it was more than thirty-five 
1 Climatic Changes indicated by the Glaciers of North America : Am. Geol., 
vol. ix, pp. 322-336, 1S92. Reprinted, with little change, as chapter viii of 
Glaciers of North America. 
2 Variations of Glaciers : Jour. Geol., vol. m, pp. 278-288, 1895; vol. v, pp. 
378-383, 1897; vol. vi, pp. 473-476, 1898; vol. vii, pp. 217-225, 1899; vol. 
viii, pp. 154-159, 190°; vol. ix, pp. 250-254, 1901; vol. x, pp. 313-317, i9° 2 - 
* Notes on Glaciers of southeastern Alaska and adjoining territory. By Otto 
J. Klotz. Geog. Jour., vol. xiv, pp. 523-534, 1899. 
