120 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



is very rugged. If we stand on the 

 seashore and watch the breakers roll 

 up, and dash themselves to spray on 

 the cliffs, we can understand that the 

 water's action on the coast must be 

 very considerable. On the east coast 

 of England, there is what is called 

 bounder clay, a kind of soft rock, and 

 it is supposed that the water's action 

 on this rock erodes two yards annually. 



Historical traditions say that at one 

 time there existed ports, but there are 

 none to be found now. There is a kind 

 of a hard resisting rock that stands 

 some distance from the shore and in- 

 dicates the place where the mainland 

 was formerly attached. 



The huge masses of limestone that 

 occur inland, take their peculiar forms 

 from the water's action. 



This I presume suffices to show that 

 water wears away a stone. The pho- 

 tograph enclosed is the rock on the 

 Irish coast. [Shows rocks much worn. 

 —Ed.] 



Yours respectfully, 



Thomas J. HanlEy. 



The Swastika for Wisdom, Not Good 

 Luck. 

 Nirvana, Stamford, Conn. 

 To The Editor : 



I was very much interested in your 

 article containing Mr. Terry's letter 

 about the symbol known as the fylfot 

 Since Mr. Terry has made such a 

 thorough study of this sign and has 

 books giving its history I feel that here 

 is an opportunity to gain knowledge 

 that I should try to make the most of; 

 for it concerns something I have 

 studied myself and had thought I knew 

 something about, — though really noth- 

 ing much of importance is. definitely 

 known about it at all. 



But one statement in Mr. Terry's let- 

 ter is so contradictory to all that I was 

 told by those who were qualified to 

 teach, that I find myself somewhat be 

 wildered. He says that the word (fyl- 

 fot) is good old English for a sign that 

 is universally known and used as the 

 good luck sign. Now I should like to 

 know Mr. Terry's authority for this. 



Perhaps if I tell you as briefly as 

 possible just what I thought I had 



learned about the fylfot (or swastika) 

 you will the better appreciate my be- 

 wilderment. 



A few years ago I became interested 

 in historic ornament, a study that- 

 taught me more valuable knowledge in 

 a month than any school could teach in 

 two years. 



I learned that the swastika was 

 used at the very beginning of art — the 

 starting point of ornamentation; just 

 as we count the beginning of the human 

 race from Adam and Eve : that its 

 origin, its meaning, its history are 

 shrouded in mystery; that it is a re- 

 markable fact that almost every 

 country, every nation, even every tribe 

 so far discovered on the face of the 

 globe, has owned it and used it, gener 

 ally in connection with their religion 

 It has been found incorporated in the 

 ornamentation of ancient tombs, altars 

 and temples of an age antedating the 

 beginning of history. 



It has been considered evidence of 

 man's first effort to adorn and to copy 

 In the distant past it seems to have 

 been used more as a religious symbol 

 than anything else, and it no doubt 

 was one form of the cross. It was con- 

 ceded by some who had made a study 

 of the sign, that very probably the idea 

 might have been suggested from two 

 sticks that had fallen or been thrown 

 to the ground and accidentally lay 

 crossed. Of course that is all mere 

 conjecture. The first cross being a 

 simple X or +, it seems postively in- 

 evitable that a little elaboration should 

 follow ; and it is a fascinating study to 

 watch the certain outcome of many de- 

 signs we use to this day, from the 

 primitive efforts that gave birth to the 

 love of embellishment and began with 

 the swastika. The well-known Grecian 

 border serves as an excellent instance 



It is no doubt true that the swastika 

 is used somewhat as a good luck sym- 

 bol at present, but I think Mr. Terry 

 overstates the case in saying it is uni- 

 versally and widely used as such. I 

 think I am safe in saying that in Eng- 

 land and in our own country its adop- 

 tion as a symbol of good luck is very 

 recent, too recent, in fact, to be at all 

 well known, and I for one think it a 



