THE GLACIAL EPOCH.
[To TEE EDITOR OF THZ " 5PEOFATOR."]
Slit,—Sir Henry Howorth's letter in the Spectator of August 20th, on "The Glacial Age," does not reply to mine in the the Spectator of August 19th at all ; but only tells me that I ought not to have written on the subject. To this I do not reply, except by stating that my theory on the subject was published in the Journal of the Geological Society several years ago, not as a reply to Sir Henry Howorth but to Mr. Croll. But as to the question of fact, I have to say that I dispute Sir H. Howorth's assertion as to the absence of any evidence of glaciation in western North America. The map shows the western coast of North America from Vancouver's Island northwards, and also that of South America, from Clhiloe southwards, to be cut up into fiords, like the coasts of Norway and of the West of Scotland ; while the coasts of North, Central, and South America, between those limits, are remarkably straight and unbroken. It scarcely needs proof that fiords are mountain-valleys continued below the water- line; and there is much evidence that the deep and wide valleys characteristic of Alpine regions are in some way the result of glacial action, as distinguished from deep and narrow valleys—glens and canyons—which are water-worn. Now, these fiords of western North America, like most of the fiords in the world, are found where, according to the glacial theory, we should expect to find them,—namely, on the west slopes of mountain-masses in high latitudes, fronting the moisture and snow-laden west winds.--I am, Sir, 8Lc.,
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