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TERMINAL MORAINE.
And Professor Agassiz gives us, on page 307 of the same work, the
above representation of a "terminal moraine."
The reader can see at once that these semicircular
[1. "Geological Sketches," p. 308.]
{p. 21}
ridges bear no resemblance whatever to the great drift-deposits of
the world, spread out in vast and nearly uniform sheets, without
stratification, over hills and plains alike.
And here is another perplexity: It might naturally be supposed that
the smoothed, scratched, and smashed appearance of the underlying
rocks was due to the rubbing and rolling of the stones under the ice
of the glaciers; but, strange to say, we find that--
"The scratched and polished rock-surfaces are by no means confined to
till-covered districts. They are met with _everywhere_ and _at all
levels_ throughout the country, from the sea-coast up to near the
tops of some of our higher mountains. The lower hill-ranges, such as
the Sidlaws, the Ochils, the Pentlands, the Kilbarchan and Paisley
Hills, and others, exhibit polished and smoothed rock-surfaces _on
their very crest_.


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