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

What is the color OF pure watcrP
Almost any person who has no special
knowledge ot the subject will reply ut
ppcG IL has no color Yet every
>body knows, either through hcarsay or
by evidence OF his own eyes. that tho
pecan looks, blue. Why the ocean
3Q9ks .blud j. IL question that few
VINO have crossed it have ever sought
10 solve, says Nature. and there arc
probable many travellers who though
they have seen most of the famous
rivers ans laEhs ip the world, nave
failed to notice the remarkable differ
cncc in color which their waters pre-
sent. Even the ocean is not uniform
in color; in some places its waters are
grcen, or even ycilowish. Some lakes
aIe2distinctB blue; others present var
ions shades of green. so that in some
cSscs they arc hardly distinguishablo
Gomthofr level, grass-covered banks;
Il few art almost black. The lako of
Geneva is azurc-huod; the lake of Con-
stance and the lake of Luccrne are
green; the color of the Mediterranean
has been called indigo. The lake of
Bffenz is grccnish yellow. and it's
ncighbor, Lake Thun, is blue. New
York has both green and blue lakes.
The cQlors of rivers differ yet more
widely. The Rhonc is blue, and so is
tho Danube. while the Rhine is green.
Anybody who has travcrscd the won
dtrful Adirondack region and tishcd in
itSWatcrS must have noticed the re-
markablc difference in the color of its
rivers and smaller streams which radi-
ato in every direction from the central
group Of mountains. The waters of
the Sacondaga ARE ycllowish, while
those of the Canada creeks and Of the
Mohawk arc clear, with perhaps n
blush tint in deep poles. Fish creek
is black or deep brown; and its neigh
Dor, Salmon river, is colorlcss. 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 Raquctte is white. The
st. Lawrence is blue. These various
hucs arc not caused by mud or any
apaquc sediment. such as that which
makes the Mississippi cofrcc-colorcd,
but belong TO the N9tcrs, like the
golden color of tea, Without greatly
their transparency.
The cause Of the difference in the
color of lakes and rivers has engaged
the attention of many celebrated in
vcstigators of nature. such as Iyndall
Bunscn, Arago, Saintc-C laire Dcvilic
and others. Recently Prof. Spring of
the University OF Licgc 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 tho
presence in the water of mineral salts
of different degrees of solubility and in
varying quantities. Water contn i"o:S
carhpnat"oof,iiion remains blue, but IL
the solution is less complete the water
will have tngc of green, which will
grow stronger as the point OF prccipi-
tation is approached. Prof. Spring
concludes that if linz" is added to blue
water in which So I,prh carbonate of
lime is already di>~",. ~ that the point
Of sa,ura,i.,A - ar.ra '."rd the water
will become GrCCw. In proof of tins he
cites the fact tha. The water near the
shores Of lakes and Scas, where it
comes in contact with limestone, is
generally Of Il %rr,urr hn' rnan s!sc-
where.