THE BEAUTY 21 



kaleidoscope which continually was chang- 

 ing the mosaic of its pattern. 



When carefully investigated, this in- 

 stability of color-scheme is found to be a 

 matter of exceedingly complicated causa- 

 tion. The changes are brought about, or 

 influenced anyway, by such things even 

 as the angularity of the rocks, the texture 

 of the bark of trees, the drifting and 

 transformations of clouds, the depth to 

 which the light at a given time can pene- 

 trate a chasm, and also by the size and 

 contour and rock-structure of the moun- 

 tain itself. Of course the one supreme 

 color-magician is the sun, and yet moon 

 and stars are the agents in some of the 

 most romantic enchantments of mountain- 

 beauty. 



There are ranges, like the Great Smoky 

 Mountains, which have been reported, 

 now and again, as having a fixed color- 

 scheme ; but, after a patient test, convinc- 

 ingly it appears that such a scheme does 

 not exist. The reports are due, doubtless, 



