Piles of Pebbles on Beaches

Abstract

IN a letter published in NATURE of Dec. 1, a correspondent directs attention to the occurrence of regularly spaced groups of pebbles along a beach in the New Hebrides, separated by patches of sand devoid of pebbles. I may say that a similar occurrence is frequently to be observed on the beach in Bournemouth Bay to the west of Alum Chine, where the piles of stones collect at distances of from 15 to 25 yards between centres, to a height of one or two feet, and appear to contain all sizes indiscriminately between ¼ in. and 4 in. The regularity of the spacing along the water's edge can be well observed from the cliffs above.