Having promis'd in the 114, and 115. Pages of the foregoing Discourse of
Whiteness and Blackness, to shew, that those two Colours may by a change of
Texture in bodies, each of them apart Diaphanous and Colourless, be at
pleasure and in a trice as well Generated as Destroy'd, We shall begin with
Experiments that may acquit us of that promise.
Take then what Quantity you please of Fair Water, and having Heated it, put
into it as much good Common Sublimate, as it is able to Dissolve, and (to
be sure of having it well glutted:) continue putting in the Sublimate, till
some of it lye Untouch'd in the bottom of the Liquor, Filter this Solution
through Cap-paper, to have it cleer and limpid, and into a spoonfull or two
thereof, (put into a clean glass vessel,) shake about four or five drops
(according as you took more or less of this Solution) of good limpid
Spirits of Urine, and immediately the whole mixture will appear White like
Milk, to which mixture if you presently add a convenient proportion of
Rectifi'd _Aqua Fortis_ (for the number of drops is hard to determine,
because of the Differing Strength of the liquor, but easily found by tryal)
the Whiteness will presently disappear, and the whole mixture become
Transparent, which you may, if you please, again reduce to a good degree of
Whiteness (though inferiour to the first) onely by a more copious affusion
of fresh Spirit of Urine. _N_. First, That it is not so necessary to employ
either _Aqua Fortis_ or Spirit of Urine about this Experiment, but that we
have made it with other liquors instead of these, of which perhaps more
elsewhere. Secondly, That this Experiment, though not made with the same
_Menstruums_, nor producing the same Colour is yet much of Kin to that
other to be mentioned in this Tract among our other Experiments of Colours,
about turning a Solution of Præcipitate into an Orange-colour, and the
Chymical Reason being much alike in both, the annexing it to one of them
may suffice FOR both.
_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 quantity 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 quantity 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
quantity 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
Præcipitation may have to do in the producing and destroying of Inks
without it, I have elsewhere given you some occasion and assistance 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
Præcipitated 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 Præcipitating
liquors that I sometimes employ, afford good store of a Crudled matter,
such as I have had in the Præcipitations 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 Præcipitate,
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 noble 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 Glass-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
Glass-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 pass 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 Glassie and Brittle Body darker than _Minium_, than any white
_Calx_ or Glass. 'Tis known among Chymists, that the white _Calx_ of
Antimony, by the further and more vehement operation of the fire, may be
melted into Glass, 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 pass
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
_Oxycæder_ 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 Glasses, I could not Denigrate it by Heat,
but it would Sublime to the sides and top of the Glass, 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 Glass, 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
Glass 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 quantity 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 Substituted 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 pass'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 Quantity 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
Quantities. Take then a little Yellow Wax, scraped or thinly sliced, and
putting it into a Bolts-head or some other Convenient Glass, 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
Glass you can, or Pour it whilst 'tis yet Hot into a Filtre of Paper, and
either in the Glass where it Cools, or in the Filtre, you will soon find
the Wax and _Menstruum_ together reduc'd into a White Substance, almost
like Butter, 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 passes Limpid through the
Filtre, nor in the Butter 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
Tinglass, 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 Shining a Gloss,
that they appear'd in some respect little Inferiour to Orient Pearls, and
in other Regards, they seem'd to Surpass 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 shining Tinglass, 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 Præcipitated 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 Præcipitated
_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 Lustre, 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 Circumstance 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
Quantity 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 Classick 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 Latitude 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 Æquinoctial, 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 Embassadours 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 Embassadour 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
Latitude (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 assur'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 Assertion 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 Passage: _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 God'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 Shifting 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 pass,
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 Principal 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 _Æthiopian_ 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 passage through the Skin, when they
were gone, they left Within specks behind them; And the lately commended
_Piso_ assures 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 _Europæan_
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 passage:[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 Præcipitations 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 Præcipitated by Oyl of _Tartar_ into White
Powders. Thus Silver and Tin separately dissolv'd in _Aqua Fortis_, will
the one Præcipitate it self, and the other be Præcipitated 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 shining Mineral Tinglass dissolv'd in
_Aqua Fortis_, and Præcipitated 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 Præcipitated 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 Butter 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 Vitæ_, 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 Præcipitated _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
Præcipitating 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 Præcipitated
Bodyes are White, yet I know some that are not; For Gold Dissolv'd in _Aqua
Regis_, whether you Præcipitate 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 Præcipitated 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 Præcipitate, 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 Præcipitation
brought to White Powders, and yet some affording Præcipitates of other
Colours, the reason of both the Phænomena 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 præexistent 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 Transmuted 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 Mass, 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 _Arsenick_, the
Experiment is this, That if you Colliquate _Arsenick_ and Copper in a due
proportion, the _Arsenick_ 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 _Arsenick_, which made Whiteness its prædominant Colour, and
return to the Reddishness of Copper, I was assur'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 Prædominant 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 Æstimate 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 Mass 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 glass I scrap'd into many thin and curdled flakes, some
shorter and some longer, and having laid a pretty Quantity of these
scrapings 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, passes 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 scrap'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 assign
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 assur'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 Glass-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
glass, 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 Analysis of the Liquor that affords
it, and being totally Inflamable, seems to have a full right to the title
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 Passage 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 quantity 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 assign'd of these Quæries, 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 Præcipitates 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 pass 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.
* * * * *