THE ROMANCE OF A RIVER 



91 



bending course, 

 but swampy ox- 

 bows of stagnant 

 water, alternating 

 on each side of 

 the stream, tell of 

 sinuous wander- 

 ings in the past. 



As we follow the 

 river down-stream 

 we find, after a 

 time, the course 

 once more begins 

 to waver, the loops 

 become more and 

 more pronounced, 

 and then another 

 straight length fol- 

 lows. Thus we see 

 the process of 

 straightening pro- 

 ceeds up - stream, 

 and the two phases 

 follow each other 

 in rhythmic pulses. 



The swings of a 

 river are sometimes compared with the 

 swings of a pendulum. The latter, we 



THEN SETS OUT AGAIN ON ITS IMPETUOUS 

 CAREER " (p. 90). 



occasionally meet w 

 three times as large 



know, are very 

 regular, and are 

 used as a means 

 of measuring time. 

 A clock is only a 

 counting machine, 

 which indicates by 

 the position of the 

 fingers on the dial 

 how many oscilla- 

 tions the pendu- 

 lum has made. 



So, in a stream, 

 if not disturbed by 

 outside influences, 

 the meanders fol- 

 low definite har- 

 monic laws, and 

 their size depends 

 upon two factors 

 — the volume of 

 water, and the 

 velocity. In the 

 course of the small 

 brook which we 

 are following we 

 ith a loop two or 

 as the normal, and 



A FALLEN TKl'l': WILL CAUSL 11' lO SWEKVE KKOiM THE STRAIGHT PATH" Cp. 90). 



