Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1913 — Magic Italian Lakes. [ARTICLE]

Magic Italian Lakes.

Every one knows how beautiful the Italian lakes are and how luxuriant is the vegetation on their banks. This is due to a large extent to the heat absorbed in summer by the water, stored up and given out slowly in cold weather. A calculation has been made by a scientist named Vercelll. He estimates that Lake Como has an area of 136 square kilometers and an average depth of about six hundred feet; in some places the depth is twice that. During mid-summer this mass of water absorbs each bright day an amount of heat equal to that produced by burning 34,000 tons of coal. This storing up of heat goes on from the end of February until the water reaches its highest temperature in August. * From that time on the water gives out heat to the surrounding stones until spring comes again, so that it is no wonder that this region is a floral paradise.