The Wilmingtonian., 1884-09-20
STRETCHING FROM NATURE.


f'om points almost at our doors, for in the
matter OF rocks the community of New
Castle county are favored to degree which
theft kindred of Kent and Sussex can only
regard with unavailing envy.
The cardinal rules in the deliueation oil
rocks with pen or pencil are these:-Faith-
full outline; sharp, bold touch; breadth OF
light and shade; accurate indication of the
lines of stratificaCion and cleavage. The
last named requirement is vital.
In painting rocks We have the additions
points of transparency in the shadows;r
decisive washes; the use of dry brush,
dragged at times almost sideways over the
paper.
Without intending to inflct geological
lecture ON our lady readers we invite their
attention to the following bits OF informa-
tion which are of the highest Importance in
the correct representation of rocks.
BY biologists all matters comprising the
crust Or solid matters of the earth's surface,
whether hard or soft, loose or compact, are
called rocks. Gravel and clay are thus
included; so is sand.
A little observation will enable us to
divide rocks into three classes. %. Those
which have been fused or melted, and
exhibit merely crystalline irregular mass
as in granite. (2J. Those which were
originally deposited in regular layers in
water, but have been altered in structure by
heat and pressure-as in the mountains of
the Blue Ridge. (3). Those arranged in
regular layers or tiata, generally horizontal,
but sometimes tilted up. A common gravel
pit gives good example of the one, coal
pit of the other,
Rocks of the second class often exhibit
the appearance of qualification, or deposit
ton in layers, but this is due to peculiar
and distinct phenomena produced IN another
way, and known as cleavage" 1t is anal
ogous to the splitting of slate in a certain
liked direction, or the tendency of some
kinds of wood to split with the grain"
We must distinguish carefully between
cleavage" and stratification.
The general theory of the formation of
rocks is briefly this. The earth was once in
a fluid state and the surface cooled first.
The crust thus formed, while still thin, was
broken through by frequent volcanic erup-
tions, and the exposed portions acted upon
through countless ages by torrents of rain
and violent floods. The abraded matter was
deposited century after century till a second
violent CONFUSION, or series of commissions,
threw them up to the surface, or crushed
them beneath the weight of other masses,
at the same time that the still unquenched
fires below subjected them to heat suflic-
lent to bake and even partially fuse them.
AS the ages rolled on, the commissions of the
cooling crust bucame mider and less fire.
quent, so that the latest rocks (gravel and
clay) have scarcely been changed at ALL 1t
was not till this era that the earth became
fit for the habitation of man. The unstable
foundations of the pre-adamite world were
trodden only by the feet of the beasts that
perish, and each creation of these, traced
backward, was of baser mould, till we ar
rive at the era of the rocks of theBrandywine,
the joint product of fire and flood, In which,
if any trace of life could be discovered at
all, it would be lower than the humblest
worm that crawls on the earth in our own
glorious day Of existence.
With this elementary knowledge of the
origin of the rocks we can proceed far moro
intelligently to attempt their deIineation,
than if we sat down to make cur sketch
without a comprehension Of the story we
have to tell on paper with few strokes of
the brush or pencil We have to express on
the small scale what nature has been tens of
thousands of years in accomplishing. A
very few touches will do wonders if, as Rus
kin points out, each one represents added
truth. But merely putting in lines without
a knowledge of the effect those lines convey
to the observers eye, is to betray our ignor-
ance in attempting to hide it.
five critically examine the rocks of the
Brandywine we shall see evidences of change
which our picture must convey, if it is to
receive the stamp of truth. The change is
going Oh daily and hourly, under our very
eyes. Air and water, soft and yielding as
they are, accomplish the work. Look at
the beulders in the liver bed. In many
cases fhey are carved out into the most fan
tastic forms. Sometimes it would seem as
if waggish giant had followed out drink
ing cup on the face of monster stone lying
in the swift rushing current. In other cases
hard angles are rounded off into marvellous
smoothness. Other masses have holes
drilled clean through and through them.
On the face of the cliffs the rains and the
frosts send down annually tons of material,
which accumulates at the base to form
terraced bank. Lastly, the air and rain
together break up and disintegrate the
separated fragments into loose soil, in
which plants take root and grow, clothing
the rugged forms with tenderness and
beauty, while the same kindly hand places
chaplets of moss and lichen on the rocks
themselves, the emblem of the end of giant
struggle between the forces that now (save
on rare occasions) act as the friends and not
the foes of mankind.
We must seek to tell this story, then, if
we would wish our sketches of the Brandy
wine scenery to give pleasure and profit to
our critics, the public. The nearer we 90 to
truth in art, the more certain we shall be to
please, in the long run. In the multitude
of counsellors there is wisdom, and the would
is generally right when it condemns play
or song or picture, or when it stamps it
with approval. One or two persons may be
ignorant, but twenty such chosen at random
will generally find a true verdict. We lose
nothing by giving our sketches the merit of
truth. It will atone for thousand imper-
fections in the purity of outlines and the
nice flow of washes of paint.