Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours (1664) Part 3

_EXPERIMENT II._

Make a strong Infusion of broken Galls in Fair Water, and having Filtred it into a clean Vial, add more of the same liquor to it, till you have made it somewhat Transparent, and sufficiently diluted the Colour, for the credit of the Experiment, lest otherwise the Darkness of the liquor might make it be objected, that 'twas already almost Ink; Into this Infusion shake a convenient quant.i.ty of a Cleer, but very strong Solution of Vitriol, and you shall immediately see the mixture turn Black almost like Ink, and such a way of producing Blackness is vulgar enough; but if presently after you doe upon this mixture drop a small quant.i.ty of good oyl of Vitriol, and, by shaking the Vial disperse it nimbly through the two other liquors, you shall (if you perform your part well, and have employ'd oyl of Vitriol Cleer and Strong enough) see the Darkness of the liquor presently begin to be discuss'd, and grow pretty Cleer and Transparent, losing its Inky Blackness, which you may again restore to it by the affusion of a small quant.i.ty of a very strong Solution of Salt of Tartar. And though neither of these Atramentous liquors will seem other than very Pale Ink, if you write with a clean Pen dipt in them, yet that is common to them with some sorts of Ink that prove very good when Dry, as I have also found, that when I made these carefully, what I wrote with either of them, especially with the Former, would when throughly Dry grow Black enough not to appear bad Ink.

This Experiment of taking away and restoring Blackness from and to the liquors, we have likewise tryed in Common Ink; but there it succeeds not so well, and but very slowly, by reason that the Gum wont to be employed in the making it, does by its Tenacity oppose the operations of the above mention'd Saline liquors. But to consider Gum no more, what some kind of Praecipitation may have to do in the producing and destroying of Inks without it, I have elsewhere given you some occasion and a.s.sistance to enquire; But I must not now stay to do so my self, only I shall take notice to you, that though it be taken for granted that bodies will not be Praecipitated by Alcalizat Salts, that have not first been dissolved in some Acid _Menstruums_, yet I have found upon tryals, which my conjectures lead me to make on purpose, That divers Vegetables _barely infus'd_, or, _but slightly decocted in common water_, would, upon the affusion of a Strong and Cleer _Lixivium_ of Potashes, and much more of some other Praecipitating liquors that I sometimes employ, afford good store of a Crudled matter, such as I have had in the Praecipitations of Vegetable substances, by the intervention of Acid things, and that this matter was easily separable from the rest of the liquor, being left behind by it in the Filtre; and in making the first Ink mention'd in this Experiment, I found that I could by Filtration separate pretty store of a very Black pulverable substance, that remain'd in the Filtre, and when the Ink was made Cleer again by the Oyl of Vitriol, the affusion of dissolv'd _Sal Tartari_ seem'd but to Praecipitate, and thereby to Unite and render Conspicuous the particles of the Black mixture that had before been dispers'd into very Minute and singly Invisible particles by the Incisive and resolving power of the highly Corrosive Oyl of Vitriol.

And to manifest, _Pyrophilus_, that Galls are not so requisite as many suppose to the making Atramentous Liquors, we have sometimes made the following Experiment, We took dryed Rose leaves and Decocted them for a while in Fair Water, into two or three spoonfulls of this Decoction we shook a few drops of a strong and well filtrated Solution of Vitriol (which perhaps had it been Green would have done as well) and immediately the mixture did turn Black, and when into this mixture presently after it was made, we shook a just Proportion of _Aqua Fortis_, we turn'd it from a Black Ink to a deep Red one, which by the affusion of a little Spirit of Urine may be reduc'd immediately to an Opacous and Blackish Colour. And in regard, _Pyrophilus_, that in the former Experiments, both the Infusion of Galls, and the Decoction of Roses, and the Solution of Copperis employ'd about them, are endow'd each of them with its own Colour, there may be a more n.o.ble Experiment of the sudden production of Blackness made by the way mention'd in the Second Section of the Second Part of our Essays, for though upon the Confusion of the two Liquors there mention'd, there do immediately emerge a very Black mixture, yet both the Infusion of _Orpiment_ and the Solution of _Minium_ were before their being joyn'd together, Limpid and Colourless.

_EXPERIMENT III._

If pieces of White Harts-horn be with a competent degree of Fire distill'd in a Gla.s.s-retort, they will, after the avolation of the Flegm, Spirit, Volatile Salt, and the looser and lighter parts of the Oleagenous substance, remain behind of a Cole-black colour. And even Ivory it self being skilfully Burnt (how I am wont to do it, I have elsewhere set down) affords Painters one of the best and deepest Blacks they have, and yet in the Instance of distill'd Harts-horn, the operation being made in Gla.s.s-vessels carefully clos'd, it appears there is no Extraneous Black substance that Insinuates it self into White Harts-horn, and thereby makes it turn Black; but that the Whiteness is destroy'd, and the Blackness generated, only by a Change of Texture, made in the burnt Body, by the Recess of some parts and the Transposition of others. And though I remember not that in many Distillations of Harts-horn I ever sound the _Cap. Mort_.

to pa.s.s from Black to a true Whiteness, whilst it continu'd in Clos'd vessels, yet having taken out the Cole-black fragments, and Calcin'd them in Open vessels, I could in few hours quite destroy that Blackness, & without sensibly changing their Bulk or Figure, reduce them to great Whiteness. So much do these two Colours depend upon the Disposition of the little parts, that the Bodies wherein they are to be met with do consist of. And we find, that if Whitewine Tartar, or even the white Crystalls of such Tartar be burnt without being truly Calcin'd, the _Cap. Mortuum_ (as the Chymists call the more Fixt part) will be Black. But if you further continue the Calcination till you have perfectly Incinerated the Tartar, & kept it long enough in a Strong fire, the remaining _Calx_ will be White.

And so we see that not only other Vegetable substances, but even White woods, as the Hazel, will yield a Black Charcoal, and afterwards Whitish ashes; And so Animal substances naturally White, as Bones and Eggshels, will grow Black upon the being Burnt, and White again when they are perfectly Calcin'd.

_EXPERIMENT IV._

But yet I much Question whether that Rule delivered by divers, as well Philosophers as Chymists, _adusta nigra, sed perusta alba_, will hold as Universally as is presum'd, since I have several Examples to allege against it: For I have found that by burning Alablaster, so as both to make it appear to boyl almost like Milk, and to reduce it to a very fine Powder, it would not at all grow Black, but retain its Pure and Native Whiteness, and though by keeping it longer than is usual in the fire, I produced but a faint Yellow, even in that part of the Powder that lay nearest the top of the Crucible, yet having purposely enquired of an Experienced Stone-cutter, who is Curious enough in tryng Conclusions in his own Trade, he told me he had found that if Alabaster or Plaster of Paris be very long kept in a Strong fire, the whole heap of burnt Powder would exchange its Whiteness for a much deeper Colour than the Yellow I observ'd. Lead being Calcin'd with a Strong fire turns (after having purhaps run thorough divers other Colour) into _Minium_, whose Colour we know is a deep red; and if you urge this _Minium_, as I have purposely done with a Strong fire, you may much easier find a Gla.s.sie and Brittle Body darker than _Minium_, than any white _Calx_ or Gla.s.s. 'Tis known among Chymists, that the white _Calx_ of Antimony, by the further and more vehement operation of the fire, may be melted into Gla.s.s, which we have obtain'd of a Red Colour, which is far deeper than that of the _Calx_ of Burnt Antimony, and though common Glafs of Antimony being usually Adulterated with _Borax_, have its Colour thereby diluted, oftentimes to a very pale Yellow; yet not onely ours made more sincerily, was, as we said, of a Colour less remote from Black, than was the _Calx_; but we observ'd, that by Melting it once or twice more, and so exposing it to the further operation of the Fire, we had, as we expected, the Colour heightned. To which we shall add but this one Instance, (which is worth the taking notice of in Reference to Colours:) That, if you take Blew, but Unsophisticated, Vitriol, and burn it very slowly, and with a Gentle degree of Heat, you may observe, that when it has Burnt but a Little, and yet so far as that you may rub it to Powder betwixt your fingers, it will be of a White or Whitish Colour; But if you Prosecute the Calcination, this Body which by a light Adustion was made White, will pa.s.s through other Colours, as Gray, Yellowish, and Red; and if you further burn it with a Long and Vehement fire, by that time it comes to be _Perustum_, it will be of a dark purple, nearer to Black, not only than the first _Calx_, but than the Vitriol before it at all felt the fire. I might add that _Crocus_ _Martis_ (_per se_ as they call it) made by the Lasting violence of the Reverberated flames is not so near a Kin to White, as the Iron or Steel that afforded it was before its Calcinations; but that I suppose, these Instances may Suffice to satisfie you, that Minerals are to be excepted out of the forementioned Rule, which perhaps, though it seldome fail in substances belonging to the Vegetable or Animal Kingdome, may yet be Question'd even in some of these, if that be true, which the Judicious Traveller _Bellonius_ affirms, that Charcoales made out of the Wood of _Oxycaeder_ are White; And I could not find that though in Retorts Hartshorn and other White Bodies will be Denigrated by Heat, yet Camphire would not at all lose its Whiteness, though I have purposely kept it in such a heat, as made it melt and boyl.

_EXPERIMENT V._

And now I speak of Camphire, it puts me in mind of adding this Experiment, That, though as I said in Clos'd Gla.s.ses, I could not Denigrate it by Heat, but it would Sublime to the sides and top of the Gla.s.s, as it was before, yet not only it will, being set on fire in the Free Air, send forth a Copious smoak, but having purposely upon some of it that was Flaming, clapt a Large Gla.s.s, almost in the form of a Hive, (but more Slender only) with a Hole at the top, (which I caus'd to be made to trye Experiments of Fire and Flame in) it continued so long burning that it Lin'd all the Inside of the Gla.s.s with a Soot as Black as Ink, and so Copious, that the Closeness of the Vessel consider'd, almost all that part of the White Camphire that did take Fire, seem'd to have been chang'd into that deep Black Substance.

_EXPERIMENT VI_

And this also brings into my mind another Experiment that I made about the production of Blackness, whereof, for Reasons too long to be here deduced, I expected and found a good Success, an it was this: I took Rectifi'd Oyl of Vitriol (that I might have the Liquor Clean as well as Strong) and by degrees mixt with it a convenient proportion of the Essential Oyl, as Chymists call it, of Wormwood, drawn over with store of Water in a Limbec, and warily Distilling the mixture in a Retort, there remain'd a scarce credible quant.i.ty of dry Matter, Black as a Coal. And because the Oyl of Wormwood, though a Chymical Oyl drawn by a _Virtuoso_, seem'd to have somewhat in it of the Colour of the Plant, I Subst.i.tuted in its Room, the Pure and Subtile Essential Oyl of Winter-Savory, and mixing little by little this Liquor, with (if I mis-remember not) an Equal weight of the formerly mention'd Rectifi'd Oyl of Vitriol, and Distilling them as before in a Retort, besides what there pa.s.s'd over into the Receiver, even these two clear Liquors left me a Considerable Proportion, (though not so great as the two former) of a Substance Black as Pitch, which I yet Keep by me as a Rarity.

_EXPERIMENT VII._

A way of Whiting Wax Cheaply and in Great Quant.i.ty may be a thing of good Oeconomical Use, and we have elsewhere set down the Practice of Trades-men that Blanch it; But here Treating of Whiteness only in Order to the Philosophy of Colours, I shall not Examine which of the Slow wayes may be best Employ'd, to free Wax from the Yellow Melleous parts, but shall rather set down a Quick way of making it White, though but in very Small Quant.i.ties. Take then a little Yellow Wax, sc.r.a.ped or thinly sliced, and putting it into a Bolts-head or some other Convenient Gla.s.s, pour to it a pretty deal of Spirit of Wine, and placing the Vessel in Warm Sand, Encrease the Heat by degrees, till the Spirit of Wine begin to Simper or to Boyl a little; and continuing that degree of Fire, if you have put Liquor enough, you will quickly have the Wax dissolv'd, then taking it off the fire, you may either suffer it to Cool as hastily as with Safety to the Gla.s.s you can, or Pour it whilst 'tis yet Hot into a Filtre of Paper, and either in the Gla.s.s where it Cools, or in the Filtre, you will soon find the Wax and _Menstruum_ together reduc'd into a White Substance, almost like b.u.t.ter, which by letting the Spirit Exhale will shrink into a much Lesser Bulk, but still retaining its Whiteness. And that which is pretty in the working of this Magistery of Wax, is, that the Yellowness vanishes, neither appearing in the Spirit of Wine that pa.s.ses Limpid through the Filtre, nor in the b.u.t.ter of Wax, if I may so call it, that, as I said, is White.

_EXPERIMENT VIII._

There is an Experiment, _Pyrophilus_, which though I do not so exactly remember, and though it be somewhat Nice to make, yet I am willing to Acquaint You with, because the thing Produc'd, though it be but a Curiosity, is wont not a little to please the Beholders, and it is a way of turning by the help of a Dry Substance, an almost Golden-Colour'd Concrete, into a White one, the Several Tryals are not at present so fresh in my Memory to enable me to tell you Certainly, whether an Equal onely or a Double weight of Common Sublimate must be taken in reference to the Tingla.s.s, but if I mistake not, there was in the Experiment that succeeded best, Two parts of the Former taken to One of the Latter. These Ingredients being finely Powdred and Exactly mix'd, we Sublim'd together by degrees of fire (the due Gradation of which is in this Experiment a thing of main Importance) there ascended a matter of a very peculiar Texture, for it was for the most part made up of very Thin, Smooth, Soft and Slippery Plates, almost like the finest sort of the Scales of Fishes, but of so Lovely a White Inclining to Pearl-Colour, and of so Curious and s.h.i.+ning a Gloss, that they appear'd in some respect little Inferiour to Orient Pearls, and in other Regards, they seem'd to Surpa.s.s them, and were Applauded for a sort of the Prettiest Trifles that we had ever prepar'd to Amuse the Eye. I will not undertake that though you'l hardly miss changing the Colour of your s.h.i.+ning Tingla.s.s, yet you will the first or perhaps the second time hit Right upon the way of making the Glistring Sublimate I have been mentioning.

_EXPERIMENT IX._

When we Dissolve in _Aqua Fortis_ a mixture of Gold and Silver melted into one Lump, it usually happens that the Powder of Gold that falls to the bottom, as not being Dissoluble by that _Menstruum_, will not have its own Yellow, but appear of a Black Colour, though neither the Gold, nor the Silver, nor the _Aqua Fortis_ did before manifest any Blackness. And divers Alchymists, when they make Solutions of Minerals they would Examine, are very Glad, if they see a Black Powder Praecipitated to the Bottom, taking it for a Hopefull Sign, that those Particles are of a Golden Nature, which appear in a Colour so ordinary to Gold parted from other Metalls by _Aqua Fortis_, that it is a trouble to the Refiner to Reduce the Praecipitated _Calx_ to its Native Colour. For though, (as we have try'd,) that may be Quickly enough done by Fire, which will make this Gold look very Gloriously (as indeed 'tis at least one of the Best wayes that is Practis'd for the Refining of Gold,) yet it requires both Watchfulness and Skill, to give it such a Degree of Fire as will serve to Restore it to its l.u.s.tre, without giving it such a One, as may bring it to Fusion, to which the Minuteness of the _Corpuseles_ it consists of makes the Powder very apt. And this brings into my Mind, that having taken a Flat and Bright piece of Gold, that was Refin'd by a Curious and Skilfull Person on purpose to Trye to what height of Purity Gold could be brought by Art, I found that this very piece, as Glorious as it look'd, being rubb'd a little upon a piece of fine clean Linnen, did sully it with a kind of Black; and the like I have observ'd in Refin'd Silver, which I therefore mention, because I formerly suspected that the Impurity of the Metall might have been the only Cause of what I have divers times obferv'd in wearing Silver-hilted Swords, Namely, that where they rubb'd upon my Clothes, if they were of a Light-Colour'd Cloath, the Affriction would quickly Black them; and Congruously hereunto I have found Pens Blackt almost all over, when I had a while carri'd them about me in a Silver Ink-case. To which I shall only add, that whereas in these several Instances of Denigration, the Metalls are worn off, or otherwise Reduc'd into very Minute Parts, that Circ.u.mstance may prove not Unworthy your Notice.

_EXPERIMENT X._

That a Solution of Silver does Dye Hair of a Black Colour, is a Known Experiment, which some persons more Curious than Dextrous, have so Unluckily made upon themselves as to make their Friends very Merry. And I remember that the other day, I made my self some Sport by an Improvement of this Observation, for having dissolv'd some Pure Silver in _Aqua Fortis_, and Evaporated the _Menstruum ad siccitatem_, as they speak, I caus'd a Quant.i.ty of fair Water to be pour'd upon the _Calx_ two or three several times, and to be at each Evaporated, till the _Calx_ was very Drye, and all the Greenish Blewness that is wont to appear in Common Crystals of Silver, was quite carry'd away. Then I made those I meant to Deceive, Moisten some part of their Skin with their own Spittle, and slightly Rub the moistned parts with a little of this Prepar'd Silver, Whereupon they Admir'd to see, that a Snow-white Body laid upon the White Skin should presently produce a deep Blackness, as if the stains had been made with Ink, especially considering that this Blackness could not, like that produc'd by ordinary Ink, be readily Wash'd off, but requir'd many Hours, and part of it some dayes to its Obliteration. And with the same White _Calx_ and a little Fair Water we likewise Stain'd the White Hafts of Knives, with a lasting Black in those parts where the _Calx_ was Plentifully enough laid on, for where it was laid on but very Thinly, the Stain was not quite of so Deep a Colour.

_EXPERIMENT XI_

The Cause of the Blackness of those many Nations, which by one common Name we are wont to call _Negroes_, has been long since Disputed of by Learned Men, who possibly had not done amiss, if they had also taken into Consideration, why some whole races of other Animals besides Men, as Foxes and Hares, are Distinguish'd by a Blackness not familiar to the Generality of Animals of the same Species; The General Opinion (to be mention'd a little lower) has been rejected even by some of the Antient Geographers, and among our Moderns _Ortelius_ and divers other Learned Men have Question'd it. But this is no place to mention what thoughts I have had to and fro about these Matters: Only as I shall freely Acknowledge, that to me the inquiry seems more Abstruse than it does to many others, and that because consulting with Authors, and with Books of Voyages, and with Travellers, to satisfie my self in matters of Fact, I have met with some things among them, which seem not to agree very well with the Notions of the most Cla.s.sick Authors concerning these things; for it being my Present Work to deliver rather matters Historical than Theorys, I shall Annex Some few of my Collections, instead of a Solemn Disputation. It is commonly presum'd that the Heat of the Climate wherein they live, is the reason, why so many Inhabitants of the Scorching Regions of _Africa_ are Black; and there is this familiar Observation to Countenance this Conjecture, That we plainly see that Mowers, Reapers, and other Countrey-people, who spend the most part of the Hot Summer dayes expos'd to the Sun, have the skin of their Hands and Faces, which are the parts immediately Expos'd to the Sun and Air, made of a Darker Colour than before, and consequently tending to Blackness; And Contrarywise we observe that the _Danes_ and some other people that Inhabit Cold Climates, and even the _English_ who feel not so Rigorous a Cold, have usually Whiter faces than the _Spaniards_, _Portugalls_ and other European Inhabitants of Hotter Climates. But this Argument I take to be far more Specious than Convincing; for though the Heat of the Sun may Darken the Colour of the Skin, by that Operation, which we in _English_ call Sun-burning, yet Experience doth not Evince, that I remember, That that Heat alone can produce a Discolouring that shall amount to a true Blackness, like that of _Negroes_, and we shall see by and by that even the Children of some _Negroes_ not yet 10. dayes Old (perhaps not so much by three quarters of that time) will notwithstanding their Infancy be of the same Hue with their Parents. Besides, there is this strong Argument to be alleg'd against the Vulgar Opinion, that in divers places in _Asia_ under the same Parallel, or even of the same Degree of Lat.i.tude with the _African_ Regions Inhabited by Blacks, the People are at most but Tawny;[10] And in _Africa_ it self divers Nations in the Empire of _Ethiopia_ are not _Negroes_, though Situated in the Torrid Zone, and as neer the aequinoctial, as other Nations that are so (as the Black Inhabitants of _Zeylan_ and _Malabar_ are not in our Globes plac'd so near the Line as _Amara_ the Famousest place in _Ethiopia_.) Moreover, (that which is of no small Moment in our present Disquisition) I find not by the best Navigators and Travellers to the _West-Indies_, whose Books or themselves I have consulted on this Subject, that excepting perhaps one place or two of small extent, there are any Blacks Originally Natives of any part of _America_ (for the Blacks now there have been by the _Europeans_ long Transplanted thither) though the New World contain in it so great a Variety of Climates, and particularly reach quite Cross the Torri'd Zone from one Tropick to another. And enough it be true that the _Danes_ be a Whiter People than the _Spaniards_, yet that may proceed rather from other causes (not here to be enquired into) than from the Coldness of the Climate, since not onely the _Swedes_ and other Inhabitants of those Cold Countreys, are not usually so White as the _Danes_, nor Whiter than other Nations in proportion to their Vicinity to the Pole. [And since the Writing of the former part of this Essay, having an opportunity on a Solemn occasion to take Notice of the Numerous Train of Some Extraordinary Emba.s.sadours sent from the _Russian_ Emperour to a great Monarch, observ'd, that (though it were then Winter) the Colour of their Hair and Skin was far less Whitish than the _Danes_ who Inhabit a milder Region is wont to be, but rather for the most part of a Darkish Brown; And the Physician to the Emba.s.sadour with whom those _Russes_ came, being ask'd by me whether in _Muscovy_ it self the Generality of the People were more inclin'd to have Dark-colour'd Hair than Flaxen, he answer'd Affirmatively; but seem'd to suspect that the True and Antient _Russians_, a Sept of whom he told me he had met with in one of the Provinces of that vast Empire, were rather White like the _Danes_, than any thing near so Brown as the present _Muscovites_ whom he guesses to be descended of the _Tartars_, and to have inherited their Colour from them.] But to Prosecute our former Discourse, I shall add for further Proof of the Conjecture I was countenancing that good Authors inform us that there are _Negroes_ in _Africa_ not far from the _Cape of good Hope_, and consequently beyond the Southern Tropick, and without the Torrid Zone, much about the same Northern Lat.i.tude (or very little more) wherein there are divers _American_ Nations that are not _Negroes_, and wherein the Inhabitants of _Candia_, some parts of _Sicily_, and even of _Spain_ are not so much as Tawny-Mores. But (which is a fresh and strong Argument against the common Opinion,) I find by our recent Relations of _Greenland_ (our Accounts whereof we owe to the Curiosity of that Royal _Virtuoso_ the present King of _Denmark_,) that the Inhabitants are Olive-colour'd, or rather of a Darker Hiew. But if the Case were the same with Men, and those other kinds of Animals I formerly nam'd, I should offer something as a considerable proof, That, Cold may do much towards the making Men White or Black, and however I shall let down the Observation as I have met with it, as worthy to come into the History of Whiteness and Blackness, and it is, that in some parts of _Russia_ and of _Livonia_ it is affirm'd by _Olaus Magnus_ and others, that Hares and Foxes (some add Partridges) which before were Black, or Red, or Gray, do in the depth of Winter become White by reason of the great Cold; (for that it should be, as some conceive, by Looking upon the Snow, seems improbable upon divers accounts) And I remember that having purposely enquir'd of a _Virtuoso_ who lately Travell'd through _Livonia_ to _Mosco_ concerning the Truth of this Tradition, he both told me, he believ'd it, and added, that he saw divers of those lately nam'd Animals either in _Russia_ or _Livonia_, (for I do not very well remember whether of the two) which, though White when he saw them in Winter, they a.s.sur'd him had been Black, or of other Colours before the Winter began, and would be so again when it was over. But for further satisfaction, I also consulted one that had for some years been an Eminent Physician in _Russia_, who though he rejected some other Traditions that are generally enough believ'd concerning that Countrey, told me nevertheless, that he saw no cause to doubt of this Tradition of _Olaus Magnus_ as to Foxes and Hares, not onely because 'tis the common and uncontroul'd a.s.sertion of the Natives, but also because he himself in the Winter could never that he remember'd see Foxes and Hares of any other Colour than White; And I my self having seen a small White Fox brought out of _Russia_ into _England_ towards the latter end of Winter, foretold those that shew'd him me, that he would change Colour in Summer, and accordingly coming to look upon him again in _July_, I found that the Back and Sides, together with the upper part of the Head and Tayl were already grown of a Dark Colour, the lower part of the Head and Belly containing as yet a Whiteness. Let me add, that were it not for some scruple I have, I should think more than what _Olaus_ relates, confirm'd by the judicious _Olearius_, who was twice employ'd into those parts as a Publick Minister, who in his Account of _Moscovy_ has this Pa.s.sage: _The Hares there are Gray; but in some Provinces they grow white in the Winter_.

And within some few Lines after: _It is not very Difficult to find the Cause of this Change, which certainly proceeds only from the Outward Cold, since I know that even in Summer, Hares will change Colour, if they be kept a competent time in a Cellar_; I say, were it not for Some Scruple, because I take notice, that in the same Page the Author Affirms, that the like change of Colour that happens to Hares in some Provinces of _Muscovy_, happens to them also in _Livonia_, and yet immediately subjoyns, that in _Curland_ the Hares vary not their Colour in Winter, though these two last named Countries be contiguous, (that is) sever'd only by the River of _Dugna_; For it is scarce conceivable how Cold alone should have, in Countries so near, so strangely differing an operation, though no less strange a thing is confess'd by many, that ascribe the Complexion of _Negroes_ to the Heat of the Sun, when they would have the River of _Cenega_ so to bound the _Moors_, that though on the North-side they are but Tawny, on the other side they are Black.

[10] Olearius Voyage de Mosco. et de Perse _liv_. 3.

There is another Opinion concerning the Complexion of _Negroes_, that is not only embrac'd by many of the more Vulgar Writers, but likewise by that ingenious Traveller Mr. _Sandys_, and by a late most learned Critick, besides other men of Note, and these would have the Blackness of _Negroes_ an effect of _Noah's_ Curse ratify'd by G.o.d's, upon _Cham_; But though I think that even a Naturalist may without disparagement believe all the Miracles attested by the Holy Scriptures, yet in this case to flye to a Supernatural Cause, will, I fear, look like s.h.i.+fting off the Difficulty, instead of Resolving it; for we enquire not the First and Universal, but the Proper, Immediate, and Physical Cause of the Jetty Colour of _Negroes_; And not only we do not find expressed in the Scripture, that the Curse meant by _Noah_ to _Cham_, was the Blackness of his Posterity, but we do find plainly enough there that the Curse was quite another thing, namely that he should be a Servant of Servants, that is by an Ebraism, a very Abject Servant to his Brethren, which accordingly did in part come to pa.s.s, when the _Israelites_ of the posterity of _Sem_, subdued the _Canaanites_, that descended from _Cham_, and kept them in great Subjection. Nor is it evident that Blackness is a Curse, for Navigators tell us of Black Nations, who think so much otherwise of their own condition, that they paint the Devil White. Nor is Blackness inconsistent with Beauty, which even to our European Eyes consists not so much in Colour, as an Advantageous Stature, a Comely Symmetry of the parts of the Body, and Good Features in the Face. So that I see not why Blackness should be thought such a Curse to the _Negroes_, unless perhaps it be, that being wont to go Naked in those Hot Climates, the Colour of their Skin does probably, according to the Doctrine above deliver'd, make the Sun-beams more Scorching to them, than they would prove to a people of a White Complexion.

Greater probability there is, That the Princ.i.p.al Cause (for I would not exclude all concurrent ones) of the Blackness of _Negroes_ is some Peculiar and Seminal Impression, for not onely we see that _Blackmore_ boyes brought over into these Colder Climates lose not their Colour; But good Authors inform us, That the Off-spring of _Negroes_ Transplanted out of _Africa_, above a hundred years ago, retain still the Complexion of their Progenitors, though possibly in Tract of time it will decay; As on the other side, the White people removing into very Hot Climates, have their Skins by the Heat of the Sun scorch'd into Dark Colours; yet neither they, nor their Children have been observ'd, even in the Countreys of _Negroes_, to descend to a Colour amounting to that of the Natives; whereas I remember I have Read in _Pisos_[11] excellent account of _Brasile_, that betwixt the _Americans_ and _Negroes_ are generated a distinct sort of Men, which they call _Cabocles_, and betwixt _Portugalls_ and _aethiopian_ women, He tells us, he has sometimes seen Twins, whereof one had a White skin, the other a Black; not to mention here some other instances, he gives, that the productions of the mixtures of differing people, that is (indeed,) the effects of Seminal Impressions which they consequently argue to have been their Causes; and we shall not much scruple at this, if we consider, that even Organical parts may receive great Differences from such peculiar Impressions, upon what account soever they came to be setled in the first Individual persons, from whom they are Propogated to Posterity, as we see in the Blobber-Lips and Flat-Noses of most Nations of _Negroes_. And if we may Credit what Learned men deliver concerning the Little Feet of the _Chinesses_, the _Macrocephali_ taken notice of by _Hippocrates_, will not be the only Instance we might apply to our present purpose. And on this occasion it will not perchance be Impertinent to add something of what I have observ'd in other Animals, as that there is a sort of Hens that want Rumps; And that (not to mention that in several places there is a sort of Crows or Daws that are not Cole-black as ours, but partly of a Whitish Colour) in spight of _Porphyries_ examples of Inseparable Accidents, I have seen a perfectly White Raven, as to Bill as well as Feathers, which I attentively considered, for fear of being impos'd upon. And this recalls into my Memory, what a very Ingenious Physician has divers times related to me of a young Lady, to whom being call'd, he found that though she much complain'd of want of Health, yet there appear'd so little cause either in her Body, or her Condition to Guess that She did any more than fancy her self Sick, that scrupling to give her Physick, he perswaded her Friends rather to divert her Mind by little Journeys of Pleasure, in one of which going to Visit St. _Winifrids_ Well, this Lady, who was a _Catholick_, and devout in her Religion, and a pretty while in the Water to perform some Devotions, and had occasion to fix her Eyes very attentively upon the Red pipple-stones, which in a scatter'd order made up a good part of those that appear'd through the water, and a while after growing Bigg, she was deliver'd of a Child, whose White Skin was Copiously speckl'd with spots of the Colour and Bignesss of those Stones, and though now this Child have already liv'd several years, yet she still retains them. I have but two things to add concerning the Blackness of _Negroes_, the one is, that the Seat of that Colour seems to be but the thin _Epidermes_, or outward Skin, for I knew a young _Negroe_, who having been lightly Sick of the Small Pox or Measles, (for it was doubted which of the two was his Disease) I found by enquiry of a person that was concern'd for him, that in those places where the little Tumors had broke their pa.s.sage through the Skin, when they were gone, they left Within specks behind them; And the lately commended _Piso_ a.s.sures us, that having the opportunity in _Brasil_ to Dissect many _Negroes_, he cleerly found that their Blackness went no deeper than the very outward Skin, which _Cuticula_ or _Epidermis_ being remov'd, the undermost Skin or _Cutis_ appear'd just as White as that of _Europaean_ Bodyes. And the like has been affirmed to me by a Physician of our own, whom, hearing he had Dissectcd a _Negroe_ here in _England_, I consulted about this particular. The other thing to be here taken notice of concerning _Negroes_ is, That having enquir'd of an Intelligent acquaintance of mine (who keeps in the _Indies_ about 300. of them as well Women as Men to work in his Plantations,) whether their Children come Black into the world; he answer'd, That they did not, but were brought forth of almost the like Reddish Colour with our _European_ Children; and having further enquir'd, how long it was before these Infants appear'd Black, be reply'd, that 'twas not wont to be many daies. And agreeable to this account I find that, given us in a freshly publish'd French Book written by a _Jesuit_, that had good opportunity of Knowing the Truth of what he Delivers, for being one of the Missionaries of his Order into the Southern _America_ upon the Laudable Design of Converting Infidels to Christianity, he Baptiz'd several Infants, which when newly Born, were much of the same Colour with _European_ Babes, but within about a Week began to appear of the Hue of their Parents. But more Pregnant is the Testimony of our Countrey-man _Andrew Battel_, who being sent Prisoner by the _Portugalls_ to _Angola_, liv'd there, and in the adjoyning Regions, partly as a Prisoner, partly as a Pilot, and partly as a Souldier, near 18. years, and he mentioning the _African_ Kingdom of _Longo_, peopl'd with Blacks, has this pa.s.sage:[12] _The Children in this Countrey are Born White, and change their Colour in two dayes to a Perfect Black_. As for Example, _The_ Portugalls _which dwell in the Kingdome of_ Longo _have sometimes Children by the_ Negroe_-women, and many times the Fathers are deceived, thinking, when the Child is Born, that it is theirs, and within two dayes it proves the Son or Daughter of a_ Negroe,_ which the_ Portugalls _greatly grieve at_; And the same person has elsewhere a Relation, which, if he have made no use at all of the liberty of a Traveller, is very well worth our Notice, since this, together with that we have formerly mention'd of Seminal Impressions, shews a possibility, that a Race of _Negroes_ might be begun, though none of the Sons of _Adam_, for many Precedent Generations were of that Complexion. For I see not why it should not be at least as possible, that White Parents may sometimes have Black Children, as that _African Negroes_ should sometimes have lastingly White ones, especially since concurrent causes may easily more befriend the Productions of the Former kind, than under the scorching Heat of _Africa_ those of the Latter. And I remember on the occasion of what he delivers, that of the White Raven formerly mention'd, the Possessor affirm'd to me, that in the Nest out of which he was taken White, they found with him but one other Young one, and that he was of as Jetty a Black as any common Raven. But let us hear our Author himself[13]; _Here are_ (sayes he, speaking of the formerly mention'd Regions) _Born in this Countrey White Children, which is very rare among them, for their Parents are_ Negroes; _And when any of them are Born, they are presented to the King, and are call'd_ Dondos; _these are as White as any White Men. These are the Kings Witches, and are brought up in Witchcraft, and alwayes wait on the King: There is no man that dare meddle with these_ Dondos, _if they go to the Market they may take what they lift, for all Men stand in awe of them. The King of_ Longo _hath four of them_.

And yet this Countrey in our Globes is plac'd almost in the midst of the Torrid Zone (four or five Degrees Southward of the Line.) And our Author elsewhere tells us of the Inhabitants, that they are so fond of their Blackness, that they will not suffer any that is not of that Colour (as the _Portugalls_ that come to Trade thither) to be so much as Buri'd in their Land, of which he annexes a particular example,[14] that may be seen in his Voyage preserv'd by our Industrious Countreyman Mr. _Purchas_. But it is high time for me to dismiss Observations, and go on with Experiments.

[11] _Piso_ Nat. & Med. Hist. _Brasil. lib_ 1. in fine.

[12] _Purchas_ Pilgrim. Second part, Seventh Book 3. Chap. Sect 5.

[13] _Purchas_. Ibid.

[14] _Purchas_ Ibid. in fin

_EXPERIMENT XII._

The way, _Pyrophilus,_ of producing Whiteness by Chymical Praecipitations is very well worth our observing, for thereby Bodyes of very Differing Colours as well as Natures, though dissolv'd in Several Liquors, are all brought into _Calces_ or Powders that are White. Thus we find that not only Crabs-eyes, that are of themselves White, and Pearls that are almost so, but _Coral_ and _Minium_ that are Red, being dissolv'd in Spirit of Vinegar, may be uniformly Praecipitated by Oyl of _Tartar_ into White Powders. Thus Silver and Tin separately dissolv'd in _Aqua Fortis_, will the one Praecipitate it self, and the other be Praecipitated by common Salt-water into a White _Calx_, and so will Crude Lead and Quicksilver first dissolv'd likewise in _Aqua Fortis_. The like _Calx_ will be afforded as I have try'd by a Solution of that s.h.i.+ning Mineral Tingla.s.s dissolv'd in _Aqua Fortis_, and Praecipitated out of it; and divers of these _Calces_ may be made at least as Fair and White, if not better Colour'd, if instead of Oyl of _Tartar_ they were Praecipitated with Oyl of _Vitriol_, or with another Liquor I could Name. Nay, that Black Mineral _Antimony_ it self, being reduc'd by and with the Salts that concurr to the Composition of common Sublimate, into that Cleer though Unctuous Liquor that Chymists commonly call Rectifi'd b.u.t.ter of _Antimony_, will by the bare affusion of store of Fair Water be struck down into that Snow-white Powder, which when the adhering Saltness is well wash'd off, Chymists are pleas'd to call _Mercurius Vitae_, though the like Powder may be made of _Antimony_, without the addition of any _Mercury_ at all. And this Lactescence if I may so call it, does also commonly ensue when Spirit of Wine, being Impregnated with those parts of Gums or other Vegetable Concretions, that are suppos'd to abound with Sulphureous Corpuscles, fair Water is suddenly pour'd upon the Tincture or Solution. And I remember that very lately I did, for Tryal sake, on a Tincture of _Benjamin_ drawn with Spirit of Wine, and brought to be as Red as Blood, pour some fair Water, which presently mingling with the Liquor, immediately turn'd the whole Mixture White. But if such Seeming Milks be suffer'd to stand unstirr'd for a convenient while, they are wont to let fall to the bottome a Resinous Substance, which the Spirit of Wine Diluted and Weakned by the Water pour'd into it was unable to support any longer. And something of Kin to this change of Colour in Vegetables is that, which Chymists are wont to observe upon the pouring of Acid Spirits upon the Red Solution of _Sulphur_, dissolv'd in an Infusion of Pot-ashes, or in some other sharp _Lixivium_, the Praecipitated _Sulphur_ before it subsides, immediately turning the Red Liquor into a White one. And other Examples might be added of this way of producing Whiteness in Bodyes by Praecipitating them out of the Liquors wherein they have been Dissolv'd; but I think it may be more usefull to admonish you, _Pyrophilus_, that this observation admits of Restrictions, and is not so Universal, as by this time perhaps you have begun to think it; For though most Praecipitated Bodyes are White, yet I know some that are not; For Gold Dissolv'd in _Aqua Regis_, whether you Praecipitate it with Oyl of _Tartar_, or with Spirit of _Sal Armoniack_, will not afford a White but a Yellow _Calx_. _Mercury_ also though reduc'd into Sublimate, and Praecipitated with Liquors abounding with Volatile Salts, as the Spirits drawn from Urine, Harts-horn, and other Animal substances, yet will afford, as we Noted in our first Experiment about Whiteness and Blackness, a White Praecipitate, yet with some Solutions hereafter to be mentioned, it will let fall an Orange-Tawny Powder. And so will Crude _Antimony_, if, being dissolv'd in a strong Lye, you pour (as farr as I remember) any Acid Liquor upon the Solution newly Filtrated, whilst it is yet Warm. And if upon the Filtrated Solution of _Vitriol_, you pour a Solution of one of these fix'd Salts, there will subside a Copious substance, very farr from having any Whiteness, which the Chymists are pleas'd to call, how properly I have elsewhere examin'd, the _Sulphur of Vitriol_. So that most part of Dissolv'd Bodyes being by Praecipitation brought to White Powders, and yet some affording Praecipitates of other Colours, the reason of both the Phaenomena may deserve to be enquir'd into.

_EXPERIMENT XIII._

Some Learned Modern Writers[15] are of Opinion, that the Account upon which Whiteness and Blackness ought to be call'd, as they commonly are, the two Extreme Colours, is, That Blackness (by which I presume is meant the Bodyes endow'd with it) receives no other Colours; but Whiteness very easily receives them all; whence some of them compare Whiteness to the _Aristotelian Materia prima_, that being capable of any sort of Forms, as they suppose White Bodyes to be of every kind of Colour. But not to Dispute about Names or Expressions, the thing it self that is affirm'd as Matter of Fact, seems to be True enough in most Cases, not in all, or so, as to hold Universally. For though it be a common observation among Dyers, That Clothes, which have once been throughly imbu'd with Black, cannot so well afterwards be Dy'd into Lighter Colours, the praeexistent Dark Colour infecting the Ingredients, that carry the Lighter Colour to be introduc'd, and making it degenerate into Some more Sad one; Yet the Experiments lately mention'd may shew us, that where the change of Colour in Black Bodies is attempted, not by mingling Bodyes of Lighter Colours with them, but by Addition of such things as are proper to alter the Texture of those Corpuscles that contain the Black Colour, 'tis no such difficult matter, as the lately mention'd Learned Men imagine, to alter the Colour of Black Bodyes. For we saw that Inks of several Kinds might in a trice be depriv'd of all their Blackness; and those made with Logwood and Red-Roses might also be chang'd, the one into a Red, the other into a Reddish Liquor; and with Oyl of _Vitriol_ I have sometimes turn'd Black pieces of Silk into a kind of Yellow, and though the Taffaty were thereby made Rotten, yet the spoyling of that does no way prejudice the Experiment, the change of Black Silk into Yellow, being never the less True, because the Yellow Silk is the less good. And as for Whiteness, I think the general affirmation of its being so easily Destroy'd or Trans.m.u.ted by any other Colour, ought not to be receiv'd without some Cautions and Restrictions. For whereas, according to what I formerly Noted, Lead is by Calcination turned into that Red Powder we call _Minium_; And Tin by Calcination reduc'd to a White _Calx_, the common Putty that is sold and us'd so much in Shops, instead of being, as it is pretended and ought to be, only the _Calx_ of Tin, is, by the Artificers that make it, to save the charge of Tin, made, (as some, of themselves have confess'd, and as I long suspected by the Cheap rate it may be bought for) but of half Tin and half Lead, if not far more Lead than Tin, and yet the Putty in spight of so much Lead is a very White Powder, without disclosing any mixture of _Minium_. And so if you take two parts of Copper, which is a High-colour'd Metall, to but one of Tin, you may by Fusion bring them into one Ma.s.s, wherein the Whiteness of the Tin is much more Conspicuous and Predominant than the Reddishness of the Copper. And on this occasion it may not be Impertinent to mention an Experiment, which I relate upon the Credit of a very Honest man, whom I purposely enquir'd of about it, being my self not very fond of making Tryals with _a.r.s.enick_, the Experiment is this, That if you Colliquate _a.r.s.enick_ and Copper in a due proportion, the _a.r.s.enick_ will Blanch the Copper both within and without, which is an Experiment well enough Known; but when I enquir'd, whether or no this White mixture being skilfully kept a while upon the Cupel would not let go its _a.r.s.enick_, which made Whiteness its praedominant Colour, and return to the Reddishness of Copper, I was a.s.sur'd of the Affirmative; so that among Mineral Bodyes, some of those that are White, may be far more capable, than those I am reasoning with seem to have known, of Eclipsing others, and of making their Colour Praedominant in Mixtures. In further Confirmation of which may be added, that I remember that I also took a lump of Silver and Gold melted together, wherein by the aestimate of a very Experienced Refiner, there might be about a fourth or third part of Gold, and yet the Yellow Colour of the Gold was so hid by the White of the Silver, that the whole Ma.s.s appear'd to be but Silver, and when it was rubb'd upon the Touchstone, an ordinary beholder could scarce have distinguish'd it from the Touch of common Silver; though if I put a little _Aqua Fortis_ upon any part of the White Surface it had given the Touchstone, the Silver in the moistned part being immediately taken up and conceal'd by the Liquor, the Golden Particles would presently disclose that native Yellow, and look rather as if Gold, than if the above mention'd mixture, had been rubb'd upon the Stone.

[15] See _Scaliger_ Exercit. 325. Sect. 9.

_EXPERIMENT XIV._

I took a piece of Black-horn, (polish'd as being part of a Comb) this with a piece of broken gla.s.s I sc.r.a.p'd into many thin and curdled flakes, some shorter and some longer, and having laid a pretty Quant.i.ty of these sc.r.a.pings together, I found, as I look'd for, that the heap they compos'd was White, and though, if I laid it upon a clean piece of White Paper, its Colour seem'd somewhat Eclips'd by the greater Whiteness of the Body it was compar'd with, looking somewhat like Linnen that had been sulli'd by a little wearing, yet if I laid it upon a very Black Body, as upon a Beaver Hatt, it then appear'd to be of a good White, which Experiment, that you may in a trice make when you please, seems very much to Disfavour both their Doctrine that would have Colours to flow from the Substantial Forms of Bodyes, and that of the Chymists also, who ascribe them to one or other of their three Hypostatical Principles; for though in our Case there was so great a Change made, that the same Body without being substantially either Increas'd or Lessened, pa.s.ses immediately from one extreme Colour to another (and that too from Black to White) yet this so great and sudden change is effected by a slight Mechanical Transposition of parts, there being no Salt or _Sulphur_ or _Mercury_ that can be pretended to be Added or Taken away, nor yet any substantial Form that can reasonably be suppos'd to be Generated and Destroy'd, the Effect proceeding only from a Local Motion of the parts which so vary'd their Position as to multiply their distinct Surfaces, and to Qualifie them to Reflect far more Light to the Eye, than they could before they were sc.r.a.p'd off from the entire piece of Black horn.

_EXPERIMENT XV._

And now, _Pyrophilus_, it will not be improper for us to take some notice of an Opinion touching the cause of Blackness, which I judged it not so seasonable to Question, till I I had set down some of the Experiments, that might justifie my dissent from it. You know that of late divers Learned Men, having adopted the three Hypostatical Principles, besides other Notions of the Chymists, are very inclinable to reduce all Qualities of Bodies to one or other of those three Principles, and Particularly a.s.sign for the cause of Blackness the Sootie steam of _adust_ or _torrifi'd Sulphur_. But I hope that what we have deliver'd above to countenance the Opinion we have propos'd about the Cause of Blackness, will so easily supply you with several Particulars that may be made use of against this Opinion, that I shall now represent to You but two things concerning it.

And First it seems that the favourers of the Chymicall Theories might have pitcht upon some more proper term, to express the Efficient of Blackness than _Sulphur adust_; for we know that _common Sulphur_, not only when Melted, but even when Sublim'd, does not grow Black by suffering the Action of the fire, but continues and ascends Yellow, and rather more than less White, than it was before its being expos'd to the fire. And if it be set on fire, as when we make that acid Liquor, that Chymists call _Oleum Sulphuris per campanam_, it affords very little Soot, and indeed the flame yeelds so little, that it will scarce in any degree Black a sheet of White Paper, held a pretty while over the flame and smoak of it, which is observed rather to Whiten than Infect linnen, and which does plainly make Red Roses grow very Pale, but not at all Black, as far as the Smoak is permitted to reach the leaves. And I can shew you of a sort of fixt Sulphur made by an Industrious Laborant of your acquaintance, who a.s.sur'd me that he was wont to keep it for divers weeks together night and day in a naked and Violent fire, almost like that of the Gla.s.s-house, and when, to satisfie my Curiosity, I made him take out a lump of it, though it were glowing hot (and yet not melted,) it did not, when I had suffered it to cool, appear Black, the true Colour of it being a true Red. I know it may be said, that _Chymists_ in the Opinion above recited mean the _Principle of Sulphur_, and not _common Sulphur_ which receives its name, not from its being _all_ perfectly of a Sulphureous Nature, but for that _plenty_ and _Predominancy_ of the Sulphureous Principle in it. But allowing this, 'tis easie to reply, that still according to this very Reason, torrifi'd Sulphur should afford more Blackness, than most other concretes, wherein that Principle is confess'd to be far less copious. Also when I have expos'd Camphire to the fire in Close Vessels, as Inflamable, and consequenly (according to the Chymists) as Sulphureous a Body as it is, I could not by such a degree of Heat, as brought it to Fusion, and made it Boyl in the gla.s.s, impress any thing of Blackness, or of any other Colour, than its own pure White, upon this Vegetable concrete. But what shall we say to Spirit of Wine, which being made by a Chymical a.n.a.lysis of the Liquor that affords it, and being totally Inflamable, seems to have a full right to the t.i.tle they give it of _Sulphur Vegetabile_, & yet this fluid Sulphur not only contracts not any degree of Blackness by being often so heated, as to be made to Boyl, but when it burns away with an Actual flame, I have not found that it would discolour a piece of White Paper held over it, with any discernable soot. Tin also, that wants not, according to the Chymists, a _Sulphur Joviale_, when throughly burned by the fire into a _Calx_, is not Black, but eminently White. And I lately noted to you out of _Bellonius_, that the Charcoals of Oxy-cedar are not of the former of these two Colours, but of the latter. And the Smoak of our Tinby coals here in _England_, has been usually observ'd, rather to Blanch linnen then to Black it. To all which, other Particulars of the like nature might be added, but I rather choose to put you in mind of the third Experiment, about making Black Liquors, or Inks, of Bodies that were non of them Black before. For how can it be said, that when those Liquors are put together actually Cold, and continue so after their mixture, there intervenes any new _Adustion of Sulphur_ to produce the emergent Blackness? (and the same question will be appliable to the Blackness produc'd upon the blade of a Knife, that has cut Lemmons and some kind of Sowr apples, if the juyce (though both Actually and Potentially Cold) be not quickly wip'd of) And when by the instilling either of a few drops of Oyl of Vitriol as in the second Experiment, or of a little of the Liquor mention'd in the Pa.s.sage pointed at in the fourth Experiment, (where I teach at once to Destroy one black Ink, and make another) the Blackness produc'd by those Experiments is presently destroy'd; if the Colour proceeded only from the Plenty of Sulphurous parts, torrify'd in the Black Bodies, I demand, what becomes of them, when the Colour so suddenly dissappears? For it cannot Reasonably be said, that all those that suffic'd to make so great a quant.i.ty of Black Matter, should resort to so very small a proportion of the Clarifying Liquor, (if I may so call it) as to be deluted by it, with out at all Denigrating it. And if it be said that the Instill'd Liquor dispers'd those Black Corpuscles, I demand, how that Dispersion comes to destroy their Blackness, but by making such a Local Motion of their parts, as destroys their former Texture? which may be a Matter of such moment in cases like ours, that I remember that I have in few houres, without addition, from Soot it self, attain'd pretty store of Crystalline Salt, and good store of Transparent Liquor, and (which I have on another occasion noted as remarkable) this so Black Substance had its Colour so alter'd, by the change of Texture it receiv'd from the fire, wherewith it was distill'd, that it did for a great while afford such plenty of very white Exhalations, that the Receiver, though large, seem'd to be almost fill'd with Milk.

Secondly, But were it granted, as it is in some cases not Improbable, that divers Bodies may receive a Blackness from a Sootie Exhalation, occasion'd by the Adustion of their Sulphur, which (for the Reasons lately mention'd I should rather call their Oyly parts;) yet still this account is applicable but to some Particular Bodies, and will afford us no General Theory of Blackness. For if, for example, White Harts-horn, being, in Vessels well luted to each other, expos'd to the fire, be said to turn Black by the Infection of its own Smoak, I think I may justly demand, what it is that makes the Smoak or Soot it self Black, since no Such Colour, but its contrary, appear'd before in the Harts-horn? And with the same Reason, when we are told, that torrify'd Sulphur makes bodies Black, I desire to be told also, why Torrefaction makes Sulphur it self Black? nor will there be any Satisfactory Reason a.s.sign'd of these Quaeries, without taking in those Fertile as well as intelligible Mechanical Principles of the Position and Texture of the Minute parts of the body in reference to the Light and the Eye; and these applicable Principles may Serve the turn in many cases, where the Adustion of Sulphur cannot be pretended; as in the appearing Blackness of an Open window, lookt upon at a somewhat remote distance from the house, as also in the Blackness Men think they see in the Holes that happen to be in White linnen, or Paper of the like Colour; and in the Increasing Blackness immediatly Produc'd barely by so rubbing Velvet, whose Piles were Inclin'd before, as to reduce them to a more Erected posture, in which and in many other cases formerly alleg'd, there appears nothing requisite to the Production of _the_ Blackness, but the hindering of the incident Beams of Light from rebounding plentifully enough to the Eye. To be short, those I reason with, do concerning Blackness, what the Chymists are wont also to do concerning other Qualities, namely to content themselves to tell us, in what Ingredient of a Mixt Body, the Quality enquir'd after, does reside, instead of explicating the Nature of it, which (to borrow a comparison from their own Laboratories) is much as if in an enquiry after the cause of Salivation, they should think it enough to tell us, that the several Kinds of Praecipitates of Gold and _Mercury_) as likewise of Quick-silver and Silver (for I know that make and use of such Precipitates also) do Salivate upon the account of the _Mercury_, which though Disguis'd abounds in them, whereas the Difficulty is as much to know upon what account _Mercury_ it self, rather than other Bodies, has that power of working by Salivation. Which I say not, as though it were not _something_ (and too often the most we can arrive at) to discover in which of the Ingredients of a Compounded Body, the Quality, whose Nature is sought, resides, but because, though this Discovery it self may pa.s.s for _something_, and is oftentimes more than what is taught us about the same subjects in the Schools, yet we ought not to think it _enough_, when more Clear and Particular accounts are to be had.

THE Experimental History OF COLOURS Begun.

The Third PART.

Containing Promiscuous Experiments About COLOURS.