7. _Changes in elevation._ One of the most difficult problems in connection with the history of an inland region is the determination of changes of level. By leveling along an ancient beach, post-lacustral changes in the relative elevations of various points may be readily ascertained. Pre-lacustral changes, however, by which ancient valleys have been obstructed, are much more difficult of direct observation, but might appear from the study of the hard-rock topography, as has already been suggested. This branch of the investigation, however, should more properly begin at the coast and be extended inland. 8. _Former outlets._ Several localities where the waters of the Laurentian basin have overflowed during former high-water stages have been pointed out, but some confusion has arisen in this connection, for the reason that the channels formed by streams issuing from the margin of the ice during the closing stages of the Glacial epoch have, in some instances, been mistaken for evidence of former lake outlets. The old outlets which seem to have been well determined are situated at different levels, and show that the entire basin could not have been occupied by a single great water-body, unless, as has been supposed by some, it was in direct communication with the sea. This hypothesis will be considered below. It has sometimes been assumed that all of the basin below the level of some ancient outlet was once flooded, so as to form a great lake in all of the basin now situated at a lower level; but, in making such generalizations, the possibility of places in the rim of the basin being at a lower level than the outlet discovered, thus necessitating a special explanation, such as the partial occupation of the basin by glacial ice, or changes in elevation of such a character as to raise the locality of former overflow or to depress other regions, have to be considered. Former outlets should bear a definite relation to neighboring shore lines and to sedimentary deposits. The channels leading from former points of discharge merit examination, as here again changes of level may perhaps be detected in the gradients of stream terraces. Most of the ancient outlets thus far recognized lead southward, but as previously mentioned, a former channel of discharge north of Lake Superior has recently been reported. If this observation is confirmed, it will have an important bearing on questions relating to changes of level and to the position of the ice front during the later stages in the retreat of the glaciers.