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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
Wearing Away a Continent. 
BY WILLIAM H. HUSK, MANCHESTER, N. H. 
Some one has said that ever since 
the mountains were created they have 
been on their way to the sea and it is 
equally true that ever since the conti- 
nents were raised above sea level they 
have had to endure the assaults of the 
ocean that slowly, very slowly, eats 
in the cut. The larger ones in the 
foreground show by their seaweed 
mantles that they are seldom, if ever, 
moved. Nothing but the strongest 
storm waves can start them. The 
smaller rocks are rolled about more 
frequently and, in their rolling, act like 
grindstones on the ledge above. The 
wearing is mutual ; the rocks are re- 
duced in size and the concave ledge is 
THE WATER AND THE ROCKS. 
into the shore line except where, by 
rising slowly, it pushes back the waves 
and builds up a coastal plain. 
With tremendous force the storm 
waves beat upon the rocky shore and 
break off fragments that in any way 
give them a leverage. Rocks decay, 
crevices form, and water, freezing in 
the cracks, forces away a piece. This 
is eventually washed into the deep, per- 
haps to rest, perhaps to be rolled about 
and dashed against its parent ledge, 
breaking off other fragments to help it 
in its work. The angular piece becomes 
rounded, is slowly ground smaller, in 
time becomes a pebble and eventually 
sand or clay. 
Occasionally rock fragments are 
washed on to a ledge like that shown 
made more concave. It is a slow proc- 
ess — much slower than weathering and 
disintegration — but it is a part of the 
work of wearing away a continent. This 
particular ledge is located on the end 
of Cape Neddick in York, Maine. 
Old winter's bars are lowered, 
And now come bursting through, 
The eager hosts of Springtime, 
To our delightful view. 
A big, invading army, 
They make the earth their own, 
And bring to swift fruition, 
What other years have sown. 
— Emma Peirce. 
Like sunrise clouds caught in the trees, 
The maples aglow in sun and breeze. 
— Emma Peirce. 
