EMILY.
I am surprised that the tin surface should radiate the least caloric, for a metallic vessel filled with hot water, a silver teapot, for instance, feels much hotter to the hand than one of black earthen ware.
MRS. B.
That is owing to the different power which various bodies possess for conducting caloric, a property which we shall presently examine. Thus, although a metallic vessel feels warmer to the hand, a vessel of this kind is known to preserve the heat of the liquid within, better than one of any other materials; it is for this reason that silver teapots make better tea than those of earthen ware.
EMILY.
According to these experiments, light-coloured dresses, in cold weather, should keep us warmer than black clothes, since the latter radiate so much more than the former.
MRS. B.
And that is actually the case.
EMILY.
This property, of different surfaces to radiate in different degrees, appears to me to be at variance with the equilibrium of caloric; since it would imply that those bodies which radiate most, must ultimately become coldest.