n unmistakable analogy between the flow of the one and the onward
movement of the other, seems to me plain,--since the river, by the
combination of its tributaries, goes on increasing in bulk in
consequence of the incompressibility of water, while a glacier gradually
thins out in consequence of the packing of its mass, however large and
numerous may be its accessions. The analogy fails also in one important
point, that of the acceleration of speed with the steepness of the
slope. The motion of the glacier bears no such direct relation to the
inclination of its bed. And though in a glacier, as in a river, the axis
of swiftest motion is thrown alternately on one or the other side of the
valley, according to its shape and slope, the very nature of ice makes
it impossible that eddies should be formed in the glacier, and the
impressive feature of whirlpools is altogether wanting in them. What
have been called glacier-cascades bear only a remote resemblance to
river-cascades, as in the former the surface only is thrown into
confusion by breaking, without affecting the primitive structure;[I] and
I reiterate my formerly expressed opinion that even the stratification
of the upper regions is still recognizable at the lower end of the
glacier of the Rhone.

The internal structure of the glacier has already led me beyond the
limits I had proposed to myself in the present article. But I trust my
readers will not be discouraged by this dry discussion of various
theories concerning it, and will meet me again on the glacier, when we
will examine together some of its more picturesque features, its
crevasses, its rivulets and cascades, its moraines, its boulders, etc.,
and endeavor also to track its ancient course and boundaries in earlier
geological times.

* * * * *

IN AN ATTIC.

This is my attic-room. Sit down, my friend;
My swallow's-nest is high and hard to gain;
The stairs are long and steep, but at the end
The rest repays the pain.

For here are peace and freedom; room for speech
Or silence, as may suit a changeful mood;--
Society's hard by-laws do not reach
This lofty altitude.

You hapless dwellers in the lower rooms
See only bricks and sand and windowed walls;
But here, above the dust and smoky glooms,
Heaven's light unhindered falls.

So early in the street the shadows creep,
Your night b