Erosion in Meanders

IN connexion with the communication by J. H. Horlock in Nature of November 26, p. 1034, I am writing to urge that the term ‘meander’ should be strictly limited to natural meanders, not to bends due to secondary flows. The term ‘meander’ is derived from the River Meander, which swings from bank to bank in an almost perfect pattern. The Central Board of Irrigation, India1, many years ago defined “a meandering river as a river which follows a sinuous path due to natural physical causes, not imposed by external restraint”. The experiments quoted were carried out under very unnatural conditions and hence produced highly unnatural results.