NATURE AT THE SHORE 



Dr. William Beebe, the naturalist, once wrote that the edges of things 

 often reveal more about what things are made of than the things themselves. 

 Just as you would examine the edge of a piece of cloth to learn its weave 

 and what the warp and weft are made of, so Dr. Beebe examines the edges 

 of nature. And what is a better place to examine nature than at the shore? 

 The edge of three elements of nature are land, water and air. 



The archaeologists dig up the refuse of lost civilizations to study and build 

 up histories of ancient times. In a like manner we may examine the edge 

 of the water for refuse telling us a little of what it contains and much about 

 the flora, fauna and minerals of the land that has been washed down by the 

 rains. 



The third, and often most obviously important, element is the air and 

 what it contains, sunlight, clouds, wind and rain. The air is the governing 

 force that subdues or plays with the other elements at the shore. When it 

 behaves to our liking and all is serene we hardly notice it at all, but when 

 it ships the water into thundering surf and makes the trees moan, we call 

 it weather. 



Mark Twain once expressed himself to the effect that we all talked about 

 the weather but nobody ever did anything about it. We still can't do much 

 about it, but we can do many things with it. Just watching the weather can 

 become an interesting pastime, and the study of weather is really a most 

 fascinating subject. 



We can study the weather to learn its moods and know whether it is just 

 playful or getting serious. Whether it is time to head for shore if we are in a 

 boat, or to stay in camp if we intended to go hiking or had planned a 

 picnic or outing. 



Weather maps are interesting to study and can be had by writing to the 

 United States Weather Bureau Station nearest you; The maps will tell much 

 about cyclonic storms and general weather conditions. However, do not 

 expect them to forecast all the local squalls or thunderstorms. 



There are a few instruments that can help us in our study of the weather 

 a weathervane, barometer and hygrometer. These can all be homemade, 

 but unless you are quite expert with tools you had better buy the barometer 

 $3.00 up. 



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