The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-08-15
WHAT IS pEW9
A Scientist Has Discovered that the Popu
lar Fancy is Wrong.

A
lar Fancy ~ Wrong.
An iconoclast in the form Of an r. r.
6. has now demonstrated that dew is
not dew: that what we ignorantly call
dew is simply a watery emulation of
the leaves or grass blades upon which
they rest. In support of this very un-
attractive theory. inquisitive scientists
took some of the sweet things growing
in the sunlight and shut them up in air
tight receivers, to weigh the moisture
given out by them. BY thus prying
into the secret processes that nature
had hidden in the night, they at last
| discovered the unknown origin OF the
dew.
They pointed out the fact that while
some plants will be dripping with
moisture, others just beside them will
| be found quite dry. They also noted
the fact that the circling globules.
decking with liquid pearl the bladed
grass" are arranged with mathempti-
cal accuracy at the termination of the
little veins that carry the juices of the
plants to the edges of the leaves.
Another damaging point made against
the old and favored theory is that these
so-called dew-drops injudiciously APP
pear when no dew is wanted.
The evidence has been conclusive.
and the dew must go, along with other
pretty fallacies. Of course the tran
spiration of growing leaves has long
been understood, but it was not until
recently generally associated in the
| .,,1 4, l.. i. +
What past ages have been content to
admire as the condensed moisture of
the purple evening air we wise ones of
the 'fin de steele" know to be. robbed
Of its poetry and sparkle, just plain
juices that come out of the leaves
Knowing this one would scarcely be
tempted, as was Bettini, Goethe's wor
SHIPPER to go out at sunrise and return
literally "bathed in dew"
However, though so sadly limited il
/ its sphere, there is vet admitted TO be
! trace of the true dew with which W,
are familiar: still, it is not the dew o
which Burns speaks in 6
Some evening sober, calm,
Dropping dews and breathing balm.
o, no; again science steps in to put II
right. Dew never drops; it never falls
Dew rises as vapor from the grount
There are numerous proofs OF this, sim
. pie experiments suggested by those wh
have investigated the matter.
Invert a plate or tray over the gras
or soil at sunset and leave it sever;
:. hours; upon examination it will
I! found that there is more moisture insid
the plate than outside. The grass ou
side may be perfectly dry, but thi
:, under the plate will be wet. BY weigl
Q ing a small section of the soil, it hf
II been found that it actually loses weigl
Il from the escape of the moisture int
the air. Some of this vapor, in risin
is from the ground, is caught at once an
u condensed on the surface o. the leave
a and grass near the ground But the re-
&c escapes into the higher air and may
Is carried for miles before it is deposito
Il and condensed by cool surfaces into dev
4, These different kinds OF dew are eas
N ly discerned. The moisture given o,
n by the leaves is always in drops arour
y their points or edges. The real dey
which occasionally appears, forms on,
in fine, pearly film. evenly distribute
over the surfaces of the leaves,
=, 1t must be admitted. then, that Il
dew can no longer claim an airy al
oi royal birth within the purple ether, b
Is rises, like any plebeian, from 'the ear
20 and things earthly" And so the lit
= dewdrops seem to stand
"a Within the pretty how'ret's eyes
Like tears that do their own disgrace bewa
= 1t is hard to see the pretty fanci
;" ~" that paint the gray old world in freshi
= tints so ruthlessly destroyed, Scien
~ worthily attacks the pcrnicious f;
Z. lacies of ignorance, but it also threi
~ ems to remove every trace OF poet
&c IG feeling and imagination in our too pra
~ tical aCe st. Louis Post -Disnatch.