Chapter 11

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.