Algeria’s River of Ink
From “The Story of Ink,” an article that appeared in a 1930 issue of the American Journal of Pharmacy:
Iron tannin inks are sometimes formed naturally; such a phenomenon has been observed in Algeria, a country in northern Africa, where there exists a “river of ink.” Chemical examinations of the waters of the streams combining to form this river revealed that one of the streams is impregnated with iron from the soil through which it flows while the other stream carries tannin from a peat swamp. When the two streams joined, the chemical action between the tannic acid, the iron and the oxygen of the water caused the information of the black ferric tannate, making a natural river of ink.
We’ve been unable to find the name of this inky river or its exact location. Perhaps someone could locate it on Google Maps?
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