The Mighty Deep 



or even a dull yellow, because of the vast sup- 

 plies of dust floating in it. 



The Mediterranean was particularly examined, 

 on account of its remarkable depth and brilliancy 

 of colouring ; and it was found to be exception- 

 ally laden with dust, both fine and coarse, brought 

 from land by innumerable rivers, and also 

 pounded by breaking waves on the long sur- 

 rounding coast-lines. 



Such floating particles, at all events the bigger 

 ones, are no longer supposed, as once they were, 

 to reflect only the tiny blue light-waves. On the 

 contrary, they are believed to reflect all the 

 waves of light indiscriminately, whether large 

 or small ; while the sea, by virtue of its own 

 power as a Blue material, captures all those 

 reflected waves except the blue, and allows the 

 latter alone to reach our eyes. 



Near British shores the water has often a 

 strongly green tint ; and this may be due in part 

 to floating particles of sand. The yellow of the 

 sand, combining with the blue of the water, 

 would naturally form green. Possibly also the 

 sea, near shore, is sometimes affected in colour 

 by floating seaweeds, green-tinted. 



The blue of the sky is often reflected on the 

 sea-surface, and sometimes so powerfully as to 



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