8 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



Sunlight in 

 rummer. 



report. Theory and observation both confirm 

 it. A red, a blue, or a green at the north is 

 harsh, intense ; where near the equator it is 

 slightly bleached or blended with other colors 

 by reflection. That the latter is more harmo- 

 nious than the former is quite aside from the 

 present tale. 



The changes in color and light, and their effect 

 upon the world about us, are things of which 

 many of us living in the temperate climes have 

 small appreciation. Our conventional remark 

 to a neighbor in passing, " A fine day ! " means 

 merely that we find the weather normal and 

 the sun shining. We have never stopped to 

 study the varieties of illumination and hue 

 that weave and interweave through that day. 

 It is merely a glittering generality to us ; yet 

 from dawn to dawn how marvellous is the 

 light, how splendid is the coloring of a clear 

 day in summer ! It usually begins with the 

 faint graying of the eastern sky above the 

 horizon, or it may be that the light appears at 

 first high up in the sky. The air has been 

 cooled and somewhat cleared by the night 

 just past, moisture is more predominant than 

 dust, and the consequent sky-color is gray or 

 silver. The light soon extends down and 



