8 NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
report. Theory and observation both confirm 
it. A-red, a blue, or a green at the north is 
harsh, intense; where near the equator it is 
slightly bleached or blended with other colors 
by reflection. That the latter is more harmo- 
nious than the former is quite aside from the 
present tale. 
The changes in color and light, and their effect 
upon the world about us, are things of which 
many of us living in the temperate climes have 
Sunlight in| small appreciation. Our conventional remark 
samme) to a neighbor in passing, ‘‘ A fine day !”? means 
merely that we find the weather normal and 
the sun shining. We have never stopped to 
study the varieties of illumination and hue 
that weave and interweave through that day. 
It is merely a glittering generality to us; yet 
from dawn to dawn how marvellous is the 
light, how splendid is the coloring of a clear 
day in summer! It usually begins with the 
faint graying of the eastern sky above the 
horizon, or it may be that the light appears at 
first high up in the sky. The air has been 
cooled and somewhat cleared by the night 
just past, moisture is more predominant than 
dust, and the consequent sky-color is gray or 
silver. The light soon extends down and 
