Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-06-23
WATER COLORS.
The Various shades OF Lakes and Rivers
and why the Color Changes in the Large
Bodies of Water in High Attitudes.

What is the color Of water! Al
most any person who has no special
knowledge of the subject will reply
at once lit has no color" yet every
body knows, either through hearsay
or by the evidence of his own eyes,
that the ocean is blue. Why the
ocean looks blue is n question that
few who have crossed it have ever
sought to solve, and there are, proba-
bly,, many travellers who, though they
have seen most of the famous rivers
and lakes in the world, have failel to
notice the remarkable differences in
the color which their waters present.
Even the ocean is not uniform in col
or; in some places lis waters are
green, or even yellowish. Some lakes
are distinctly blue; others present
vmious shades of green, so that IN
some cases they are hardly distin-
guishable from their level, grass-cov-
cred banks; a few are almost black.
The Lake of Geneva is azure hued,
the Lake of Constance and the Lake
of Lucerne are green; the color OF
the Mediterranean has been called in
digo. The Lake Of Brienz is green
ish yellow, and its neighbor, Lake
Thun, is blue. New York has both
green and blue-lakes. The colors of
rivers differ yet more wildly. The
Rhone is blue and 80 is. the Danube,
while the Rhine is green. Anybody
who has traversed the wonderful
Adirondack region and fished in its
waters must have noticed the remark
able differences in tho color of its
rivers and smaller streams which ra-
date in every direction from the cen
trail group of mountains. The waters
of the Sacondage are yellowish, while
those of the Canada creeks and OF the
Mohawk are clear with perhaps a
blush tint in deep pools. Fish Greek
is black or deep brown, and its neigh
Dor, Salmon River, is colorless. Next
comes the Black River, whose color is
indicated by its name, but between il
and the Grasse, which is clear white
waters. The st. Regis again is black,
but the Raquette is white. The st
Lawrence is blue. These various
hues are not caused by mud, nor any
opaque sediment, such as that which
makes the Mississippi ee-colored
but belong to the waters, like the
golden color of tea, without greatly
impairing their transparency.
The cause of the difference in the
color of the lakes aud rivers has en-
gagged the attention of many cele
brated Investigators of nature, such
| as Tyndall, Bunsen, Arago, Sainte
Claire Deville, and others Recently
Prof. Spring of the University Of
Liege has carefully Investigated the
question Of the color of water, and
has reached some interesting conclu
sions. According to him, absolutely
pure water, when seen i'll masses Of
sufficient thickness, is blue, and all
the varieties of color exhibited il
lakes and streams arise from the pres
ence in the water of mineral salts Of
different degrees of solubility and II
varying quantities. Water contain
ing carbonate of lime in a state o.
almost complete solution remains
blue, but ii the solution is less com
plere the water Will lave a tinge o.
green which will grow stronger al
/ the point of precipitation is ap
preached. Prof. Spring concludes
| that if lime is added to blue water
in which so much carbonate of lime il
already dissolved that the point o
saturation is approached, the water
will become green. In proof of thi'
he cites the fact that the water neal
the shores of lakes and seas, wher'
it comes in contact with limestone
is generally of greener hue thar
elsewhere.