BROKEN AND SHADED LIGHT 
31 
the coast of Maine are remarkable for fog ef- 
fects, and in cold weather, when the fog turns 
the bare trees into traceries of frozen silver, the 
effect is truly splendid. 
But close contact with fogs in either city 
streets or country lanes is not a thing enjoyed 
by the average person. People grumble and 
cough and talk about “disagreeable” and 
“horrible” weather, but not one out of a hun- 
dred gets his head far enough out of his coat- 
collar to see the beautiful pearl-gray tints about 
him. Broken and obscured as the light is, it 
still comes through in minute reflecting points. 
There is nothing opaque about the bank. It is 
luminous always; and though we think of it 
and speak of it as gray and monotonons in color, 
we have only to contrast it with engine steam 
to find that it is often full of delicate pinks, 
lilacs, and pale yellows, especially when it is 
lifting. These minor broken color-notes seldom 
attract our attention, and yet they are perhaps 
as refined tones as we shall find in nature’s 
gamut, if we except the notes of the upper sky at 
dawn. It is curious that people do not see them, 
and still more curious that they fail to appreciate 
them when they are pointed out. The average 
person is quick enough to remark the red flame 
Color in 
fog banks, 
