The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1890-06-13
The Color OF Water.

: What Is the color Of pure waterf
Almost any person who has no special
knowledge OF the subject will reply at
: epc& 1t has no color" Yet every.
>body Knows either through hcarsay OF
by evidence of his own eyes, that the
pecan looks, blue. Why the ocean
399ks tblud is question that few
VINO have crossed it have ever sought
to solve, says Nature. and there are
Probabfu-lH9ny travellers who, though
they have seen most of the famous
rivers hns lalN5. ip the world, have
failed to notice the remarkable differ
enco in color which their waters pre-
sent. Even the ocean is not uniform
In color; in some places its waters are
green, or even ycllowish. Some lakes
aredistiYctly blue; others present var
iohs shades of green, SO that in some
cfses they are hardly distinguishabls
GomHhetr level, grass-covered banks;
"a few arc almost black. The lako of
Geneva is azurc-hued; the lake of Con-
stance and the lake of Lucerne are
green; the color of the Mediterranean
has been called indigo. The lake of
Bfienz is greenish yellow. and its
neighbor, Lake Thun, is blue. New
York has both green and blue lakes.
The cQlors of rivers differ yet more
widely. The Rhone is blue, and so is
tho Danube, while the Rhine is green.
Anybody who has travcrscd the Won
d&rful Adirondack region and fshed in
ltSWatcrs must have noticed the re-
markable difference in the color of its
rivers and smaller streams which radi-
ate in every direction from the central
group Of mountains. The waters of
the Sacondaga are yellowish. while
those of the Canada creeks and of the
Mohawk are clear, with perhaps a
blush tint in deep poles. Fish creek
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 it
and the Grasse. which is also black or
brown, is the Oswegatchie, with 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 or any
apaque sediment, such as that which
makes the Mississippi ec-colored,
but belong to the waters, like the
golden color of tea, without greatly
impairing their Transparency.
lhN Shuoc VI tilC uluCICDCC Ill Inc
color of lakes and rivers has engaged
the attention of many celebrated in
vestigators of nature, such as Tyndall,
Bunsen, Arago. Saintc-Clairc Devillc,
and others. Recently Prof. Spring of
the University of Liege has carefully
Investigated the question of the color
of water, and has reached some inter-
esting conclusions. According to him,
absolute pure water, when seen in
masses of sufficient thickness, is blue,
and all the varieties of color exhibited
in lakes and streams arise from the
presence in the water of mineral salts
of different degrees of solubility and in
varying quantities. Water enniein,'..
carbpnatc1ofitron remains blue, but If
the solution is less complete the water
will have tinge of green, which will
grow stronger as the point of precipi-
tation is approached. Prof. Spring
concludes that if lime is added to blue
water in which so mnrh carbonate of
lime is already dissolved that the point
of saturatian is approached the water
will become green. in proof Of this he
cites the fact that the water near the
shores of lakes and seas, where it
comes in contact with limestone. is
generally Of n grceDcr hue than also
where.