Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/207

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138
Canadian Alpine Journal

GLACIER OBSERVATIONS


By George Vaux, Jr., and William S. Vaux

Of all the phenomena that attract the nature lover in the high mountains, possibly none is more interesting or appeals more strongly to the imagination than the glaciers.

These vast bodies of ice, slowly meandering from the highest peaks and snow-submerged valleys, calling to mind that epoch when the polar ice cap covered the whole of Canada and the northern part of the United States, ever pushing onward with resistless force, give us a picture of the operation and unchangeableness of natural laws, which is most impressive.

Whilst the glaciers of the Canadian Rockies and Selkirks cannot compare in size with those of Alaska and other far northern latitudes, there are probably no other mountain ranges in the world where the conditions are more favorable for glacial study and observations. All the various types may be seen, and their location is such that they may be visited with the greatest ease by the tourist, and a continuation of observations made and records kept, which in the future will be of the greatest value in solving the many problems that are as yet unanswered respecting the action of glaciers. In no way can the Alpine Club of Canada do more to further scientific interests than by taking steps to carry on some work of this sort systematically each year.

Though much of it has already appeared in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, it seems to be not amiss to give here a brief resume of the work which we have done on the