I. The Van Wert beach extends eastward from the former southwestward outlet of Lake Erie near Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Findlay, Ohio, where it joins the Blanchard moraine. Through Indiana and Ohio its altitude is quite uniformly 210 feet above Lake Erie.
While the Van Wert beach was forming, the ice front was the northeastern shore of the lake as far east as Findlay, Ohio, its position being marked by the Blanchard moraine. East of Findlay, where the Van Wert beach joins it, the moraine is of the normal type. But west of Findlay, it presents peculiarities of topography and structure, resulting from the presence of lake water beneath the ice margin. The water was shallow and incapable of buoying up the ice-sheet, and producing icebergs. The motion of the water under the ice-sheet produced a variable structure. This is the only instance of a moraine demonstrably formed in lake water.
II. The Leipsic, or second beach, was formed after the ice had retreated from its position marked by the Blanchard moraine. Its altitude is 195 to 200 feet above Lake Erie. It has its terminus near Cleveland, where it connects with the western end of a moraine.
III. The Belmore beach and its correlative moraine. Between the Leipsic beach and the present shore of Lake Erie are several beaches. One of these, the Belmore beach, terminates near Cleveland, while the others extend into southwestern New York, and probably connect with moraines, though this connection has not been traced. The general altitude of the Belmore beach in Ohio is 160 to 170 feet above Lake Erie. Unlike the Van Wert and Leipsic beaches, it does not directly connect with a moraine at its eastern end, but a gap of ten miles intervenes. Terraces at Cleveland, Mr. Leverett thinks, make a connection between the eastern end of the beach and the western end of the moraine at Euclid, Ohio.
C. E. P.
The Climate of Europe During the Glacial Epoch. By Clement Reid. (Natural Science. Vol. I, No. 6, 1892).
Temperature of the Sea.—The temperature of the English Channel was similar to that where the isotherm of 32° F. is now situated. The winter temperature can scarcely have been 20° colder than at present. The Mediterranean was perhaps 5° colder than now.
Temperature of the Land (air).—It does not appear that the climate of the lowlands of southern Europe can have been 20° lower than the present mean; 10° or perhaps less appear to have been the refrigeration in the Mediterranean region. The temperature at the southern margin of the ice-sheet was about 20° colder than at present. The temperature increased rapidly towards the south. Recent observations seem to show that throughout central Europe there was a period of dry cold, causing the country to resemble the arid regions of central Asia.
J. A. B.
On the Glacial Period and the Earth-Movement Hypothesis. By James Geikie, Edinburgh, Scotland. (Read before the Victoria Institute, London).