The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1905-03-03

ter as one OF Its inherent quantities. |
That gold would not be yellow or sill
yer white in the absence of light is
received by many persons, not as a
revelation but as fanciful absurdi-
ty. Light is wave in highly
elastic medium; color is determined
by the length of the light-wave. The
longest light-wave is red, the short
est blue, and waves of intermediate
lengths develop the intermediate
colors. Neither black nor white is
pure color. Black is the absence of
light and white is a composite of all
the primary colors. The white light
of the sun is a skein of many colors,
which may be resolved into its pri-
mary elements in a very homely
way. In the absence of a Nicol's
prism, a working substitute may be
had in the angled crown piece, or
knob of a preserve stand. With this
directed towards the suna lamp
will do as we'll and the eye pressed
close against the glass a little pa
tience and slow turning the glass
only are necessary to resolve the
light into all the colors of the rain
bow. A still better medium, per-
haps, is a coal oil lamp. Have the
lamp well filled with oil, and while
the sun is near the horizon press the
eye ose>against the lamp and view
the sun through one side of the lamp.
Some patience and cal efully shifting
your viewpoint may be sometimes
necessary to get the best results.
When the best position is found hor-
izontal elliptic rings of red and blue
appear first and later the intermedi-
ate colors. 1t will no doubt sur
prise the observer as it did the writ
er to discover that he had never be-
fore held colors in their purity. The
art and ingenuity of man have never
yet discovered a pigment anywhere
approaching the beauty and purity
of colors that condescend to expose
themselves in a coal oil lamp.
After seeing. in the unequally re-
fleeing surfaces of the homely
prisms have described. the appar-
emily white skein of the sun and
lamp unraveled till each strand of
color stands alone it is not difficult
to see that material objects have no
inherent color, but take their color
wholly as their atoms intercept Civ
en- length of light-waves. When the
light-waves from the sun reach the
outer ri r of the earth's atmosphere
the long waves pass without being
sensibly disturbed through the finely
divided matter floating in the air.
but which is sufficient to break the
continuity of the very short waves
and develop the beautiful blue color
of the sky. But when the light
waves of the sun reach the observer
through the denser atmosphere near
err the earth, as at sunrise or sunset,
the longer light-waves are intercept
ed. giving rise to the colors red and
and yellow. The blue of the ocean
like that of the sky is due to suspend
ed finely divided matter. This is
proven by the blue water of the
ocean rarely occurring near the
coast, and only at long distances out
from the mouths of large rivers that
bring down great volumes of detri-
tus. But perhaps the simplest way
to demonstrate that color in an in
herent property of light and not of
matter is to pound piece of window
pane to powder. The powdered
mass, into which no foreign element
has been introduced, is seen to be
white, resulting from numerous re-
fleeing surfaces of unequal power
intercepting at once the light
waves of varying lengths and fusing
them into the composite color,
white. j, H. I.
nnITrCNII