336 The Amefica7i Geologist. December, i899 
and inclosing a small lagoon. I have seen on adjacent shores 
many examples of the different stages. Thereafter came vary- 
ing conditions of eastern and western supremacy. At the time 
the sketches were made, September, 1898, the dominant force 
was from the west, as shown in one by the small spit at its 
apex. The growth of the larger foreland was watched at in- 
tervals throughout several weeks, and slight changes in out- 
line discovered. The increase could be seen in the case of the 
small spit at the end by a few hours of observation. The la- 
goons at the bases of the projections have become largely 
marshed up. 
That these are not abnormal is shown by the fact that there 
are numbers of the same variety within a few miles, none of 
them large. Since their general shape would be cuspate were 
it not for the rounded apex, I have called them blunted cusps. 
The cause of the blunting appears to be the relation of wave 
direction to the shore, with the fact that the outer portion 
of the wave is always in deeper water than the rest, and thus 
loses less energy and is able to carry its burden farther, swing- 
ing it past the end of the cusp. The variable power of larger 
and smaller waves would also tend to keep the apex uncertain 
and blunt. 
Classification and Distribution of the Forelands of the Bras d'Or. 
As a whole the shores are adolescent. The rather gentle 
curves, the bay-head stream deltas, the bars, spits, cusps and 
tied islands all indicate this. In some cases w^here drumlins 
project into the water, a considerable portion has been cut 
away and the shore line well smoothed out. 
The classification by outlines which is employed here is 
from "Shoreline Topography." Only a few of the instances 
can be given in each division, partly because of the multiplicity 
of examples, partly because a study of them would have taken 
a much longer time than was available. 
Cusps. — Many cusps occur which form too small promon- 
tories to be given even local names. Some are typical in their 
outline, and as fine examples in miniature as any of the larger 
ones on open coasts, usually ascribed to currents. Others are 
more or less blunted. One type of these has been described 
above. Most of the large cusps of the ordinary shape have tri- 
