[1]. Place a circular piece of bright red silk, about half an inch in diameter, on the middle of a sheet of white paper; lay them on the floor in a bright sunshine, and fixing your eyes steadily on the center of the red circle, for three or four minutes, at the distance of four or six feet from the object, the red silk will gradually become paler, and finally cease to appear red at all.
[2]. Similar to these are many other animal facts; as purges, opiates, and even poisons, and contagious matter, cease to stimulate our system, after we have been habituated to their use. So some people sleep undisturbed by a clock, or even by a forge hammer in their neighbourhood: and not only continued irritations, but violent exertions of any kind, are succeeded by temporary paralysis. The arm drops down after violent action, and continues for a time useless; and it is probable, that those who have perished suddenly in swimming, or in scating on the ice, have owed their deaths to the paralysis, or extreme fatigue, which succeeds every violent and continued exertion.
[X]. MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS.
There were some circumstances occurred in making these experiments, which were liable to alter the results of them, and which I shall here mention for the assistance of others, who may wish to repeat them.
[1]. Of direct and inverse spectra existing at the same time; of reciprocal direct spectra; of a combination of direct and inverse spectra; of a spectral halo; rules to pre-determine the colours of spectra.
a. When an area, about six inches square, of bright pink Indian paper, had been viewed on an area, about a foot square, of white writing paper, the internal spectrum in the closed eye was green, being the reverse spectrum of the pink paper; and the external spectrum was pink, being the direct spectrum of the pink paper. The same circumstance happened when the internal area was white, and external one pink; that is, the internal spectrum was pink, and the external one green. All the same appearances occurred when the pink paper was laid on a black hat.
b. When six inches square of deep violet polished paper was viewed on a foot square of white writing paper, the internal spectrum was yellow, being the reverse spectrum of the violet paper, and the external one was violet, being the direct spectrum of the violet paper.
c. When six inches square of pink paper was viewed on a foot square of blue paper, the internal spectrum was blue, and the external spectrum was pink; that is, the internal one was the direct spectrum of the external object, and the external one was the direct spectrum of the internal object, instead of their being each the reverse spectrum of the objects they belonged to.
d. When six inches square of blue paper were viewed on a foot square of yellow paper, the interior spectrum became a brilliant yellow, and the exterior one a brilliant blue. The vivacity of the spectra was owing to their being excited both by the stimulus of the interior and exterior objects; so that the interior yellow spectrum was both the reverse spectrum of the blue paper, and the direct one of the yellow paper; and the exterior blue spectrum was both the reverse spectrum of the yellow paper, and the direct one of the blue paper.
e. When the internal area was only a square half-inch of red paper, laid on a square foot of dark violet paper, the internal spectrum was green, with a reddish-blue halo. When the red internal paper was two inches square, the internal spectrum was a deeper green, and the external one redder. When the internal paper was six inches square, the spectrum of it became blue, and the spectrum of the external paper was red.