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NATURE FOB ITS OWN SAKE 



sea-surface it makes itself apparent at first in 

 little catches or quivers on the water. The wind 

 itself comes in fitful puffs and squalls, and it is 

 these little inequalities of wind-pressure that 

 make possible the breaking of the surface at 

 the start. As the wind increases in force the 

 surface is covered with small, facet-like waves 

 that flash light and color with great brilliancy. 

 With a stronger wind we have what is called a 

 " chop sea," in which waves scurry hither and 

 thither, driven by local gusts, crossing and 

 breaking upon each other in small dashes of 

 foam. If the wind is long continued from one 

 direction the general drift of the waves and the 

 water will be toward the opposite point of the 

 compass. The harder and stronger the blowing 

 of the wind, the more uniform the travel of 

 the waves, though they are always more or less 

 ruffled on their surfaces by eddies and contrary 

 gusts, and occasionally a wave set in a lateral 

 direction breaks in upon the line and churns up 

 a great yeast of foam. 



With a stiff wind the sea shows us waves 

 crested with foam and commonly referred to as 

 " white-caps." These caps are produced by the 

 crest being driven faster with the wind than the 

 body of the wave, thus losing its support ; or 



