6 Tlic Amcrica7i Geologist. July, 189« 
^ny particular case, the point at which the spit should become 
a hook would depend upon the relative strength of the spit- 
forming- forces; but the hook would be a permanent form 
just so long as the conditions remained uniform. That is, 
once begun, during a certain stage of development of a spit, 
and in a certain part of a lake, a hook would ahvays remain 
in this position unless the spit-forming conditions varied. 
This would involve a change in either the relative strength of 
the waves, the direction of wave supply, the amount of iiia- 
terial furnished, or the position of the base of supply. \'aria- 
tions in these directions can come only by a change in the 
neighboring land, either in relative level of land and water, 
or as the result of erosion. Either of these causes may change 
the natural base of the spit, or cause the waves to commence 
work on a different kind of rock, or change either the direction 
or relative force of the waves. 
Spits should therefore vary greatly in length, width, posi- 
tion and details of form, according to the various sets of con- 
troling forces and conditions. They may vary in width, even 
up to the form of cuspate forelands. There seems to be every 
gradation between spits and these compound bodies, as there 
certainly is sometimes a close relation in cause. From place 
to place hooks should also vary greatly in direction, in form, 
in length, and in the nature of the spit pedestal. In reality 
they do. Probably a close study of these would show a definite 
relation between form and surrounding conditions. 
Cuspate Foreland in Sydney Harbor, C B.- — In the harbor 
of Sydney, Cape Breton island, there is one of the best in- 
stances of a cuspate foreland that I have ever seen (PI. I, Fig. 
2). It is probably less than a mile and a half across its base 
and considerably more than a mile long, and its northern 
and longer side faces the more open water. On the south 
side there is an opening near the base, through which the 
tide enters and passes into the lagoon inclosed between the 
sides of the foreland. The bottom of this lagoon is a mud 
flat, during low tide exposed to the air in the greater part 
of its area, but transformed to a bay at high water. Upon . 
the point formed by the union of these two arms there is a 
light house, and beyond this, off the point, is shoal water for 
some distance, though on either side the harbor is deep and 
navigable by even large ships. 
