The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-05-22

clllate HaneS OF 1alnl Steely purple.
1t is spotted with soft velvety black
wherever q shadow falls, that mingles
and varies the wonderful display of
color. 1t is brilliant, vivid, changeable
with the interferences of light from the
huctuating surface above, which trans
mogrifes everything - touches the
coarsest objects with its pencil, and
they become radiant and spiritual. A
pills of brick, dumped carelessly on the |
deck, has become huge hill of crystal |
jewelry, lively with brilliant prismatic !
radiance. Where the light falls on the |
steps of the staircase il shows ladder |
of silver crusted with emeralds. The
round-house, spars, masts, every spot
where peak or angle catches the light,
have flushed into oliquid, jeweled beauty;
and each point, a prism and mirror,
catches, multiplies, and reflects the
other splendor. A rain bow, fleecy
mist over the lake, made prismal by the
sunlight, bunch of sub-aQueous moss,
a soap bubble, are all examples of our
daily experience of that transforming
power of water in the display Of color.
The prevailing tone is that soft, golden
effulgence which, like the grace Of q
cheerful and loving heart, blends all
into one harmonious whole.
But observation warns the spectator
of the delusive character of all that
splendor of color. He lifts box from
the ooze he appears to have uncorked
the world. The hold in bottomless
chasm. Every indention, every ac-
clivity that casts a shadow, gives the
impression of that soundless depth
! The bottom of the sea seems loop
holed with cavities that pierce the solid
globe and the dark abysses of space be-
yond. The diver is surrounded by pit
falls, real and imaginary. There is
no graduation. The shallow concave of
hand-basin is as the shadow of the
bottomless well.
If the exploration takes place in the
delta of great river, the light is affect
ed by the various densities of the
Misunderstanding media At the proper
depth one can see clearly the line where
these two meet, clean cut and as sharp
ly defined rs the bottom of green
glass tumbler through the pure water
it contains. The salt brine or gela-
tinous sea-water sinks weighted to the
bottom, and over it flows the fresh river
water. If the latter is darkened with
sediment, it obseures the silent depths
with heavy, gloomy cloud. In seasons
of freshet this becomes total darkness.
But even on bright, sunshiny day,
under clear water, the shadow of any
object in the sea is unlike any shade i'll
the upper atmosphere. 1t draws black
curtain over everything under it, CON-
pletely obscuring it. Nor is this pecu-
liarity lost when the explorer enters
the shadow but, as one looking in a
tunnel from without can see nothing
therein, though the open country be.
yond is plainly visible, so, standing il
that submarine shadow, all around is
dark, though beyond the sable curtain
of the shadow the view is clear. Ap
ply this optical fact to the CHASTITY story
of divers alleged experience in the
cabin of a sunken ship. 1t is narrated
that there was revealed to his appalled,
, sight the spectacle of the drowned pas
sengers in various attitudes of alarm ol
devotion when the dreadful sutfocatiol
came. The story is told with great eff
feet and power, but unless a votalic
lantern is included in the stage furni
ture, the ghastly tableau must sinl
into the limbo of incredibilities.
) The cabin of sunken vessel is darl
b beyond any supernal conception o
! darkness. Even a cabin window doe
not alter this law, though it may be it
: self visible, with objects on its surface
as in a child's magic-lantern. As thu
J rays of light pass through an objec
/ hatwise, like the blade of knift
through the leaves of book, and ma,
, be admitted through another of hk,
character in the plane of the first, so
2 ray of light can penetrate with defec
t ton through air and water. But be
coming polarized, the interposition o
8 third medium ordinarily Transparent
| will stop it altogether. Hence the plate
= glass window under water admits NJ
D light into the interior of a cabin. Th
2 distrust of sight grows with the diver
2 experience. The eye brings it's habit O
estimating proportion and distance fron
: an attenuated atmosphere into anothe
t and denser medium, and the seer i
= continually deceived by the change
v He hesitates, halts, and is observant q
the pitfalls about him. A gang-plan.
S slightly above the surface of the deck j
r bordered, where its shadow falls, b.
dismal trenches. There is a range c
! hills crossing the deck before him. A
v he approaches he estimates the difiicul
: ty of the ascent At its apparent foe
J., he reaches to Chamber the steep sides
: and the sierra is still step beyond III
a reach. Drawing still nearer, he pre-
l pares to crawl up his hand touche
5 the top it is less than shoulder-higl
S But perhaps the strongest illustratio
s of the differing densities of these tw
r mendia is furnished by an attempt
f drive a nail under water. By an absC
k lutte law such an effort, if guided b
f sight independent of calculation, mus
Il fail. Habit and experience, tested i
atmospheric light will control the mus
Y cles, and direct the blow at the ver
y point where the nail-head is not. FC
S this reason the ingenious expedient of
: voltaic latern under the water hf
It proved to be impracticable. 1t is NJ
v the light alone which is wanted, br
e that sweet familiar atmosphere throug
O which we are habituated to look. I'll
J. submarine diver learns to rely who'll
), on the truer sense of touch, and guide
d by that he engages in tasks requirin
Z labor and skill with the easy assuranC
e of blind man in crowded street.
d The conveyance of sound throue
the inelastic medium of water is so diff
cNlt that it has been called the world
silence. This is only comparative
true. The fish has an auditory cavit
which, though simple in itself, certiti
the ordinary conviction of sound, b
I'LL ,l,n,