764 DARRELL H. DAVIS 



composed. Only in an occasional place, and then only in small 

 amount, has any lateral cutting whatever occurred. 



What then does meandering mean ? It would seem from this one 

 case, that meandering is rather an expression of the river's attempt 

 to establish a certain grade and fix a certain relation between its 

 slope and the amount of sediment carried, that meandering is not 

 dependent upon the character of the material and may proceed in 

 deposits in which there are no obstructions to start meandering, that 

 meanders are not always the result of a long process, but that a 

 meandering course may be the one first chosen, and that a swift 

 stream, when free to assume the path it chooses, will meander. 



This is, of course, more in the nature of a suggestion than a definite 

 statement as to the cause of meandering, as one case is not sufficient 

 to establish the point, but it should be possible to find many other 

 examples of character similar to this, and a careful study of such 

 cases would certainly help us to a better understanding of the behavior 

 of meandering streams. 



