BEACH FORMATIONS AT BOTANY BAY. 159 



Introduction. 



The literature dealing with wave action and beach form- 

 ation is voluminous. The names of Cialdi, G. K. Gilbert, 

 De la Beche, Elie de Beaumont, Scott Russell, Sir G. Stokes, 

 Sir G. Airy, Rankine, Stevenson, Fenneman, Gulliver, 

 Vaughan Cornish and others rank high in this connection. 

 Some of the reports of these authors are written in technical 

 language and are unintelligible to the uninitiated. For the 

 latter the lucid and brief explanations by G. K. Gilbert, 1 

 Fenneman, 2 Gulliver, 3 Vaughan Cornish, 4 D. W. Johnson, 5 

 and T. Steel, 6 should be very helpful. In "Beach Cusps," 

 by D. W. Johnson, willfbe found an excellent epitome of the 

 literature dealing with these interesting shore-line features, 

 besides being in itself a distinct contribution to the theory 

 of Beach Cusps. 



The present note is not of a controversial nature, but is 

 an attempt to apply the inductive method to the theory of 

 beach origins. 



Believing that the simple statement of a case often 

 amounts practically to an explanation, the writer has 

 adopted the narrative style in the body of the present 

 report, relating the peculiarities of waves and of beach 

 forms as observed on one beach during a period extending 

 over about three years (1909 - 1912) so as to make the 

 significance of the observations apparent by a mere recital 

 of the sequence of forms perceived. It will be seen,* as 

 these pages are read, that the peculiar forms observed 



1 Topographic features of Lake Shores. Fifth Annual Eeport, United 

 States Geological Survey, pp. 75 - 100. 



2 Lakes of South Eastern Wisconsin. Wisconsin Survey, 1902, pp. 13 

 -30. 



3 Shore Line Topography. Proc. Am. Acad. Arts, Sci., xxxiv, 1899. 



* Sea Beaches and Sand Banks. Jour. Royal Geol. Soc, 1898, pp. 

 528-543; pp. 628-651. 



5 Beach Cusps. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., Deer. 1911, pp. 599 - 623. 



6 Presidential Address. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 1905, pp. 622-625. 



