The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-02-08
PROBLEMS in COLORS
WHITE IS COOL, YsTARcrlc ANIMALS
As A RULE ARE WAITE.

In summer weather ladies', and men
too, when possible wear white Why
} To keep cool, of course. you will say.
IL this be so. why, then. are almost al
the creatures that live ia arctic regions
clothed In white7 The usual reply Il
that the white color is for protective
purposes--in order. in fact. to make
them invisible' 20 their enemies In the
midst OF the WASTES OF snow.
But consider, again. is this reasona
BILE? Prom whom does the polar bear
need TO hide7 He has no enemies tc
fear. And sas ffor the birds which as.
sumo white plumage when they mi.
crate north. surely they also have far
fewer foes in the polar regions than
when farther south.
Again. II white be a cool color this Is
surely another reason against the In
I habitants Sf the coldest regions turning
white at the approach OF winter 1t Is
easy to strengthen this argument. Visit
the tropics. and you VIII find hardly
any white animals or birds In the very
hottest regions OF the globe not only is
man. as a rule. black. but the birds and
beasts are either very dark or else ex-
tremely brilliant IN color. or tropical
birds the commonest colors run as fol-
lows Brown. dark green and dark blue.
emerald green. reds and yellows.
Speaking OF the birds again. why Is II
that land birds are mostly dark hued
while so many eea birds are white?
Here Is another color puzzle. Almost
all song birds are .sonii,er I'm hue. while
the brightly colored species, such IS the
jays, the parrots and birds Of paradise.
have naturally harsh voices.
The colors of flowers and leaves offer
numbers OF interesting problems. No
one quite knows why the prevailing
tint Of early spring flowers Is either
white or yellow. Yellow. indeed. holds
Its own to some extent all through the
summer, but the typical color OF sum-
mer blooms Is pink, while as the au-
turnn advances richer crimsons and all
the rich. glowing hues of ldahlias and
chrysanthemums arc seen.
Horticulturists have produced pop
pies of'prety nearly every shatie under
the sun, and with many other flowers
they seem able TO alter the colors al.
most as they please. Yet the blue,rose.
the black tulip and the green carnation
seem as far or as ever they were in
spite OF constant efforts TO arrive at
them. Nearly three centuries ago
Dutch gardeners imagined themselves
'on the verge OF inventing a black tulip
The coiors OF the blossom Of fruit
trees are limited to white, pink, bright
scarlet and purple The reason no one
knows. Nor is IL clear why nearly all
plants with purple blossoms have poi
sonous properties. The deadly night
shade is an instance which win be
familiar TO all country readers.
1t used to be said and may still
imagine that intensity of color depends
upon intensity Of light. The brilllancy
OF tropical landscape seems i'm some
measure TO hear this out. But any
amount OF arguments may be dedueed
against it. Rubies, opals and other
exquisitely cOlOped gems are dug from
the depths OF the earth.
The rays OF the sun have never |
touched them. The pulp Of some fruits
is more richly tinted than the outer
rind. while the crimson blood Of ami |
mails is hidden from the light. What
could be more rich and magnificent in
color than the wings Of many moths?
Yet these are all night flying creatures.
Speaking OF moths, II seems odd that
there is no blue moth Very few show
even a touch or spot OF blue. The col
orings q butterflies present many prob
lens. for there seems no order or meth
cd ln their bues and markings, and a
strange point is the absolute difference
ia these points between species other
wise closely allied.
Why do autumn leaves u IA yeIiow7
Here Is question which a more eas-
lily answered than some that have al
ready been suggested. The tcyrla-
reply Is. 1.-The frost does f., This =
only partly correct. If a really hard
frost were to happen early ia autumn
there weuld be no fints at all. All the
leaves would turn brown NJ once. The
really gorgeous colors are produced by
a slow and gradual fall OF temperature,
OF course, without too much wind or
rain. The cold causes chemical fer
AhNhAF hHtth AAAtAiAa Aaet fNIuE tuuA-
pounds in the cells Of tie leaf. II is
those leaves which contain most sugar
which oxidize most rapidly and OF
which. consequently. the color becomes
most rich and brilliant.
A question which is often asked Is.
why do Holsters. siirimps and certain
other similar sheilnsl turn red when
boiled = II seems thaf the black color.
Ing matter which colors the shell Of the
lobster during life IS an iron com
pound. We know that iron rust IS red
The effect OF boiling Is practically to
turn this iron compound IN the lobster
she'll 10 highly oxdized rust.
The dislike OF certain creatures for
certain colors is strange II number
)f earthworms be placed IN an obiong
box, OF which one half is covered with
red and the other with blue glass. they
Will with one accord crawl fway from
he blue light and take refuge under
he red glass Many other higher crea-
ures share the same dislike to blue
avs --DQaraopfa kNaaoIrlr