180 



NATURE FOB ITS OWN SAKE 



grass may decide the coloring of a shadow fall- 

 ing upon it. Pure water is in itself a most ex- 

 quisite and subtle blue, but spread over a bed 

 of yellow sand under sunlight it may appear 

 yellow or perhaps greenish in hue. Even when 

 the water is too deep to see the bottom, the 

 latter may have some determining influence on 

 the color by mingling with or illuminating it. 



Reflection is, however, the more powerful 

 factor in leading us astray as regards local hue. 

 Smooth water, like a mirror, is always throwing 

 back from its face some likeness in light, form, 

 and color of whatever happens to be above it, 

 be it rock, tree, bank, or sky. The water may 

 be green in, let us say Lake Placid, but the re- 

 flection of the clear sky from its face makes it 

 appear blue. Even when the surface is agi- 

 tated and the reflection is broken, there is always 

 more or less flashing light from the sky along the 

 tiny facets on the backs of the waves. We can 

 only get the local hue by shutting out the re- 

 flected hue. A gray sky with a ruffled surface 

 dispels or breaks reflection sufficiently to give 

 us some notion of local color ; and it is during 

 rain-storms and squally weather on sea, lake, 

 and river that we gain the truest knowledge of 

 the actual colors of waters. Sometimes, under 



