Massachusetts geologist Edward Hitchcock was among the first of his American colleagues to investigate the glacial theory of Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz. After studying a copy of Agassiz's Etudes sur les Glaciers 1840, Hitchcock displayed an initial enthusiasm regarding its explanatory powers in the published version of his presidential address before the newly-founded Association of American Geologists, and in his concurrently-published Final Report on the Geology of Massachusetts 1841. But that same year, Hitchcock also undertook a 400-mile journey to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, to test the possible validity of a hypothetico-deductive argument that he had formulated, about whether Alpinestyle glaciers had once descended from their summits. From the lack of supporting field evidence, Hitchcock abruptly retreated into a non-committal stance that merely argued for some combination of ice-and-water that he labeled “glacio-aqueous action.” In the following year, Hitchcock engaged in a brief contr...

中文翻译：

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爱德华·希区柯克，罗德里克·默奇森和反对阿尔卑斯山冰河理论（1840–1845）

马萨诸塞州的地质学家爱德华·希区柯克（Edward Hitchcock）是他最早研究瑞士地质学家路易斯·阿加西兹（Louis Agassiz）冰川理论的美国同事之一。在研究了Agassiz的《 1840年冰川的练习曲》后，希区柯克在新成立的美国地质学家协会的主席致辞中和其同时发表的《地质学最终报告》中对它的解释力表现出了最初的热情。这是1841年马萨诸塞州的历史。但同年，希区柯克还进行了400英里的新罕布什尔州白山之旅，以检验他提出的关于假设式演绎论证的有效性，该论证涉及高山型冰川是否曾经从他们的后代峰会。由于缺乏实地证据，希区柯克突然退缩到一种不置可否的立场，他只是主张冰与水的某种结合，他称之为“冰水作用”。次年，希区柯克进行了简短的谈话。