EXPERIMENT I.
Aving 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;[a]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.
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[a]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:[a]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[a]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,[a]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.
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[a]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.
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.
