The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1906-01-31
JAN. 81. 1906
PROBLEMS IN COLORS
WHITE IS COOL, YET ARCTIC ANIMALS
As A RULE ARE WHITE.

WHITE IS COOL YET ARCTIC ANIMALS
As a RULE ARE WHITE.
Why Are Land Birds Mostly Dark
and sen birds, In Many Cases,
tc.-Why Have Nearly All Pur-
pie blossoms Poisonous PrOpertlesf
In summer weather ladies, and men,
700, when possible wear white. Why?
TO keep cool Of course, you will say.
If this be so, why, then, are almost all
the creatures that live in arctic regions
rlothed in Whitcf 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-
blei From whom does the polar bear
need 10 hidet He hats no enemies to
fear And as for the birds which as
sumo white pnmage when they mi
CRATE north. surely they also have far
fewer foes in the polar regions than
when farther south.
Again. IL white be cool color this Is
habitants of the coolest regions turning
white ut the approach Of winter. 1t is
easy 10 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 IL
man. as Il rule, black, but the birds and
beasts are either very dark or else ex-
tremely brilliant in color. or tropical
birds Tire eomm0ncst colors run as fol-
lows: Hrown, dark green and dark blue,
emerald green. reds and yellows
Speaking of the birds again, why Is it
that land birds are mostly dark hued
while 50 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
Tile 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 an.
tumn advances richer crmsons and all
the rich, glowing hnes of dahlas and
chrysanthcmums are seen.
Hortieulturists 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 rs 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 mt
them. Nearly three centuries ago
Dutch gardeners imagined themselves
on the verge Of inventlng n 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 it clear why nearly all
plants With purple blossoms have poi
sonous properties. The deadly night
shade IS an instance which will be
familiar 10 all country readers.
1t used to he said and many still
imagine that intensity of color depends
upon intensity of light. The brilliancy
OF Il tropical landscape seems In some
measure to bear this out. But any
amount of arguments may he deduced
against It, RubieS, opals and other
cXquisitcly colorcd 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 he 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 Il touch or spot of blue. The col
orines of butterflies present many prob
LENS for there seems no order or meth
cd In their hucs and markings and n
strange point is the absolute difference
IN these points between species other
wise closely allied
Nhy do autumn leaves turn Yellow
Here Is Il question which is more cas-
lily answered than some that have al
ready been suggested The popular
reply Is, The frost does It." This is
only partly correct. II II really hard
frost were to happen early in autumn
there would be no tlntS at all. All the
leaves would turn brown at once. The
really gorgeous colors are produced by
II slow aud gradual fall of temperature,
of course. without too much wind or
rain The cold causes chemical fer
ment, which attacks the color com
pounds IN the cells of the leaf. 1t is
those leaves which contain most sugar
which oxidiZc most rapidly and OF
which. consequently, the color becomes
most rich and brilliant
A question which is often asked is,
"Why do Holsters. shrlmps and certain
other similar sheltiSh turn red when
boiledt' 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 oxidl2el rust
The dislike of certain creatures for
certain colors is strange. If a number
of earthworms be placed in an oblong
box, of which one half is covered with
red and the other with blue glass, they
viii 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 10 blue
rays-PearSon' Weekly