here is a lake in a defile on the northwest flank of Snowdon, which is
supplied by a stream which previously passes over several veins of
copper; this lake is, of course, of a bright verdigris green, but it is
not transparent. Now the coloring effect, of which I speak, is well seen
in the water of the Rhone and Rhine. The former of these rivers, when it
enters the Lake of Geneva, after having received the torrents descending
from the mountains of the Valais, is fouled with mud, or white with the
calcareous matter which it holds in solution. Having deposited this in
the Lake Leman[25] (thereby gradually forming an immense delta), it
issues from the lake perfectly pure, and flows through the streets of
Geneva so transparent, that the bottom can be seen twenty feet below the
surface, jet so blue, that you might imagine it to be a solution of
indigo. In like manner, the Rhine, after purifying itself in the Lake of
Constance, flows forth, colored of a clear green, and this under all
circumstances and in all weathers. It is sometimes said that this arises
from the torrents which supply these rivers generally flowing from the
glaciers, the green and blue color of which may have given rise to this
opinion; but the color of the ice is purely optical, as the fragments
detached from the mass appear white. Perhaps some correspondent can
afford me information on the subject.

J. R.[26]

_March, 1834._

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 24: From London's _Magazine of Natural History_ (London,
Longmans & Co., 1834), vol. vii., No. 41, pp. 438-9, being its author's
earliest contribution to literature.--ED.]

[Footnote 25: This lake, however, if the poet have spoken truly, is not
very feculent:--

"Lake Leman woos me with its crystal face,
The mirror where the stars and mountains view
The stillness of their aspect in each trace
Its clear depth yields of their far height and hue."

BYRON.]

[Footnote 26: In the number of the magazine in which this note appeared
was an article by "E. L." on the perforation of a leaden pipe by rats,
upon which, in a subsequent number (Vol. vii., p. 592), J. R. notes as
follows: "E. S. has been, surely, too inattentive to proportions: there
is an inconsistency in the dimensions of a leaden pipe about 1-1/4 in. in
external diameter, with a bore of about 3/4 in. in diameter; thus leaving
a solid circumference of metal varying from 1/2 in. to 3/4 in. in
thickness.--_J. R._, _Sept. 1834._"--ED.]