The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-02-06
PROBLEMS IN COLORS
WHITE IS cool, YET ARCTIC ANIMALS
AS A RULE ARE WHITE.

Why Are Land Birds Mostly Dark !
and Sea Birds, In Many Cases, |
Whitef-Why Have Nearly All Pur- |
pie Blossoms Poisonous PrOpertiest |
In summer weather ladies', and men,
Loo, when possible wear white. Why2 |
To keep cool. of course, you will say.
If this be so, why, then, are almost all
the creatures that live in arctic regions
clothed In white? The usual reply Is
that the white color is for protective
purposes-in order In fact, to make
them invisible to their enemies in the
midst of the wastes Of snow.
But, consider, again, is this reasona-
BILE? From whom does the polar bear
need to hide? He has no enemies to
fear. And as for 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, If white be a cool color this Is
surely another reason against the in
habitants of the coolest regions turning
white at the approach of winter. 1t Is
easy to strengthen this argument Visit
the tropics, and you will find hardly
any white animals or birds. In the very
hottest regions of the globe not only Is
man, as rule, black, but the birds and
beasts are either very dark or else ex-
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 1t
that land birds are mostly dark hued
while so many sea birds are white?
Here is another color puzzle. Almost
all song birds are somber in hue, while
the brightly colored species, such as 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-
tumn advances richer crimsons and all
the rich, glowing hues Of dahlias and
cnrySantnemumS are seen.
Horticulturists have produced pop
pies OF pretty nearly every shade 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 off 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 colors of the blossom of fruit
trees are limited to white, pink, bright
scarlet and purple. The reason no one
| knows Nor is 1t clear why nearly all
plants with purple blossoms have poi
| sonous properties. The deadly night
shade is an instance which will be
familiar to all country readers.
1t used to be said and many still
imagine that intensity Of color depends
upon intensity of light The brilliancy
Of a tropical landscape seems in some
measure to bear this out But any
amount of arguments may be deduced
against it. Rubies, Opals and other
exquisitely colored 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. it seems odd that
there is no blue moth. Very few show
even touch or spot of blue. The col
orings of butterflies present many prob
lens, for there seems no order or meth
cd In their hues and markings, and
strange point is the absolute difference
in these points between species other
wise closely allied.
Why do autumn leaves turn yellow?
Here is a question which is more cas-
lily answered than some that have al
ready been suggested. The popular
reply is, 1.-THE frost does it." This is
only partly correct. If really hard
frost were to happen early in autumn
there would be no tints at all. All the
leaves would turn brown at 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 a chemical fer
ment, which attacks the color COM
pounds In the cells of the leaf. 1t 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, shrimps and certain
other similar shellfish turn red when
boiledY' 1t seems that 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
shell to highly oxidized rust.
The dislike of certain creatures for
certain colors is strange. If number
of earthworms be placed in an oblong
box, of which one half Is covered with
red and the other with blue glass, they
will with one accord crawl away from
the blue light and take refuge under
the red glass. Many other higher crea-
lures share the same dislike to blue
rays-Pearson's Weekly.