Light and Colours
London
Printed for Henry Herringman. 1664
A Copy of the Letter
That Mr. Boyle wrote to Sir Robert Morray,
to accompany the Obſervations touching
the Shining Diamond.
SIR,
Illuminated T in Though Hough Sir Robert Morray and Monſieur Zulichem be Perſons that have deſerv’d ſo well of the Commonwealth of Learning, that I ſhould think my ſelf unworthy to be look’d upon as a Member of it, if I declin’d to Obey them, or to Serve them; yet I ſhould not without Reluctancy ſend you the Notes, you deſire for him, if I did not hope that you will tranſmit together with them, ſome Account why they are not leſs unworthy of his peruſal; which, that you may do; I muſt inform you, how the writing of them was Occaſion’d, which in ſhort was thus. As I was juſt going out of Town, hearing that an Ingenious Gentleman of my Acquaintance, lately return’d from Italy, had a Diamond, that being rubb’d, would ſhine in the Dark, and that he was not far off, I ſnatch’d time from my Occaſions to make him a Viſit, but finding him ready to go abroad, and having in vain try’d to make the Stone yield any Light in the Day time, I borrow’d it of him for that Night, upon condition to reſtore it him within a Day or two at furtheſt, at Greſham College, where we appointed to attend the meeting of the Society, that was then to be at that place. And hereupon I haſted that Evening out of Town, and finding after Supper that the Stone which in the Day time would afford no diſcernable Light, was really Conſpicuous in the Dark, I was ſo taken with the Novelty, and ſo deſirous to make ſome uſe of an opportunity that was like to laſt ſo little a while, that though at that time I had no body to aſſiſt me but a Foot-Boy, yet ſitting up late, I made a ſhift that Night to try a pretty number of ſuch of the things that then came into my thoughts, as were not in that place and time unpracticable. And the next Day being otherwiſe imploy’d, I was fain to make uſe of a drowſie part of the Night to ſet down haſtily in Writing what I had obſerv’d, and without having the time in the Morning, to ſtay the tranſcribing of it, I order’d the Obſervations to be brought after me to Greſham College, where you may remember, that they were together with the Stone it ſelf ſhown to the Royal Society, by which they had the good Fortune not to be diſlik’d, though ſeveral things were through haſt omitted, ſome of which you will find in the Margin of the incloſed Paper. The ſubſtance of this ſhort Narrative I hope you will let Monſieur Zulichem know, that he may be kept from expecting any thing of finiſh’d in the Obſervations, and be diſpos’d to excuſe the want of it. But ſuch as they are, I hope they will prove (without a Clinch) Luciferous Experiments, by ſetting the Speculations of the Curious on work, in a diligent Inquiry after the Nature of Light, towards the diſcovery of which, perhaps they have not yet met with ſo conſiderable an Experiment, ſince here we ſee Light produc’d in a dead and opacous Body, and that not as in rotten Wood, or in Fiſhes, or as in the Bolonian Stone, by a Natural Corruption, or by a Violent Deſtruction of the Texture of the Body, but by ſo ſlight a Mechanical operation upon its Texture, as we ſeem to know what it is, and as is immediately perform’d, and that ſeveral wayes without at all prejudicing the Body, or making any ſenſible alterations in its Manifeſt Qualities. And I am the more willing to expoſe my haſty Tryals to Monſieur Zulichem, and to You, becauſe, he being upon the Conſideration of Dioptricks, ſo odd a Phœnomemon relateing to the Subject, as probably he treats of, Light will, I hope, excite a perſon to conſider it, that is wont to conſider things he treats of very well. And for you Sir, I hope you will both recrute and perfect the Obſervations you receive, For you know that I cannot add to them, having a good while ſince reſtor’d to Mr. Clayton the Stone, which though it be now in the hands of a Prince that ſo highly deſerves, by underſtanding them, the greateſt Curioſities; yet he vouchſafes you that acceſs to him as keeps me from doubting, you may eaſily obtain leave to make further Tryals with it, of ſuch a Monarch as ours, that is not more inquiſitive himſelf, than a favourer of them that are ſo. I doubt not but theſe Notes will put you in mind of the Motion you made to the Society, to impoſe upon me the Task of bringing in, what I had on other occaſions obſerv’d concerning ſhining Bodies. But though I deny not, that I ſometimes made obſervations about the Bolonian Stone, and try’d ſome Experiments about ſome other ſhining Bodies; Yet the ſame Reaſons that reduc’d me then to be unwilling to receive ev’n their commands, muſt now be my Apology for not anſwering your Expectations, Namely the abſtruſe nature of Light, and my being already over-burden’d, and but too much kept imploy’d by the Urgency of the Preſs, as well as by more concerning and diſtracting Occaſions. But yet I will tell you ſome part of what I have met with in reference to the Stone, of which I ſend you an account. Becauſe I find on the one ſide, that a great many think it no Rarity upon a miſtaken perſwaſion, that not only there are ſtore of Carbuncles, of which this is one; but that all Diamonds and other Gliſtering Jewels ſhine in the Dark. Whereas on the other ſide there are very Learn’d Men, who (plauſibly enough) deny that there are any Carbuncles or ſhining Stones at all.
And certainly, thoſe Judicious men have much more to ſay for themſelves, than the others commonly Plead, and therefore did deſervedly look upon Mr. Clayton’s Diamond as a great Rarity. For not only Boetius de Boot, who is judg’d the beſt Author on this Subject, aſcribes no ſuch Virtue to Diamonds, but begins what he delivers of Carbuncles, with this paſſage.26 Magna fama est Carbunculi. Is vulgo putatur in tenebris Carbonis inſtar lucere; fortaſſis quia Pyropus ſeu Anthrax appellatus a veteribus fuit. Verum hactenus nemo nunquam verè aſſerere auſus fuit, ſe gemmam noctu lucentem vidiſſe. Garcias ab Horto proregis Indiæ Medicus, refert ſe allocutum fuiſſe, qui ſe vidiſſe affirmarent. Sed iis fidem non habuit. And a later Author, the Diligent and Judicious Johannes de Laet in his Chapter of Carbuncles and of Rubies, has this paſſage. Quia autem Carbunculi, Pyropi & Anthraces a veteribus nominantur, vulgo creditum fuit, Carbonis instar in tenebris lucere, quod tamen nullâ gemmâ hastenus deprehenſum, licet à quibuſdam temerè jactetur. And the recenteſt Writer I have met with on this Subject, Olaus Wormius, in his Account of his well furniſh’d Musæum, do’s, where he treats of Rubies, concurr with the former Writers by theſe Words.27 Sunt qui Rubinum veterum Carbunculum eſſe existimant, ſed deeſt una illa nota, quod in tenebris inſtar Anthracis non luceat: Aſt talem Carbunculum in rerum naturâ non inveniri major pars Authoram exiſtimant. Licet unum aut alterum in India apud Magnates quoſdam reperiri ſcribant, cum tamen ex aliorum relatione id habeant ſaltem, ſed ipſi non viderint. In confirmation of which I ſhall only add, that hearing of a Rubie, ſo very Vivid, that the Jewellers themſelves have ſeveral times begg’d leave of the fair Lady to whom it belong’d, that they might try their choiceſt Rubies by comparing them with That, I had the Opportunity by the Favour of this Lady and her Huſband, (both which I have the Honour to be acquainted with) to make a Trial of this famous Rubie in the Night, and in a Room well Darkn’d, but not only could not diſcern any thing of Light, by looking on the Stone before any thing had been done to it, but could not by all my Rubbing bring it to afford the leaſt Glimmering of Light.
But, Sir, though I be very backward to admit ſtrange things for truths, yet I am not very forward to reject them as impoſſibilities, and therefore I would not diſcourage any from making further Inquiry, whether or no there be Really in Rerum natura, any ſuch thing as a true Carbuncle or Stone that without Rubbing will ſhine in the Dark. For if ſuch a thing can be found, it may afford no ſmall Aſſiſtance to the Curious in the Inveſtigation of Light, beſides the Nobleneſs and Rarity of the thing it ſelfe. And though Vartomannus was not an Eye witneſs of what he relates, that the King of Pegu, one of the Chief Kings of the East-Indies, had a true Carbuncle of that Bigneſs and Splendour, that it ſhin’d very Gloriouſly in the Dark, and though Garcias ab Horto, the Indian Vice-Roys Phyſician, ſpeaks of another Carbuncle, only upon the Report of one, that he Diſcours’d with, who affirmed himſelf to have ſeen it; yet as we are not ſure that theſe Men that gave themſelves out to be Eye-witneſſes ſpeak true, yet they may have done ſo for ought we know to the contrary. And I could preſent you with a much conſiderabler Teſtimony to the ſame purpoſe, if I had the permiſſion of a Perſon concern’d, without whoſe leave I muſt not do it. I might tell you that Marcus Paulus Venetus28 (whoſe ſuppos’d Fables, divers of our later Travellours and Navigatours have ſince found to be truths) ſpeaking of the King of Zeilan that then was, tells us, that he was ſaid to have the beſt Rubie in the World, a Palm long and as big as a mans Arm, without ſpot, ſhining like a Fire, and he ſubjoyns, that the Great Cham, under whom Paulus was a conſiderable Officer, ſent and offer’d the value of a City for it; But the King anſwer’d, he would not give it for the treaſure of the World, nor part with it, having been his Anceſtours. And I could add, that in the Relation made by two Ruſſian Coſſacks of their Journey into Catay29, written to their Emperour, they mention’d their having been told by the people of thoſe parts, that their King had a Stone, which Lights as the Sun both Day and Night, call’d in their Language Sarra, which thoſe Coſſacks interpret a Ruby. But theſe Relations are too uncertain for me to build any thing upon, and therefore I ſhall proceed to tell you, that there came hither about two years ſince out of America, the Governour of one of the Principal Colonies there, an Ancient Virtuoſo, and one that has the Honour to be a member of the Royal Society; this Gentleman finding ſome of the chief Affairs of his Country committed to another and me, made me divers Viſits, and in one of them when I enquir’d what Rare Stones they had in thoſe parts of the Indies he belong’d to, he told me, that the Indians had a Tradition that in a certain hardly acceſſible Hill, a pretty way up in the Country, there was a Stone which in the Night time ſhin’d very vividly, and to a great diſtance, and he aſſur’d me, that though he thought it not fit to venture himſelf ſo far among thoſe Savages, yet he purpoſely ſent thither a bold Engliſhman, with ſome Natives to be his guides, and that this Meſſenger brought him back word, that at a diſtance from the Hillock he had plainly perceiv’d ſuch a ſhining Subſtance as the Indians Tradition mention’d, and being ſtimulated by Curioſity, had ſlighted thoſe Superſtitious Fears of the Inhabitants, and with much ado by reaſon of the Difficulty of the way, had made a ſhift to clamber up to that part of the Hill, where, by a very heedful Obſervation, he ſuppos’d himſelf to have ſeen the Light: but whether ’twere that he had miſtaken the place, or for ſome other Reaſon, he could not find it there, though when he was return’d to his former Station, he did agen ſee the Light ſhining in the ſame place where it ſhone before. A further Account of this Light I expect from the Gentleman that gave me this, who lately ſent me the news of his being landed in that Country. And though I reſerve to my ſelf a full Liberty of Believing no more than I ſee cauſe; yet I do the leſs ſcruple to relate this, becauſe a good part of it agrees well enough with another Story that I ſhall in the next place have occaſion to ſubjoyn, in order whereunto I ſhall tell you, that though the Learned Authors I formerly mention’d, tell us, that no Writer has affirm’d his having himſelf ſeen a real Carbuncle, yet, conſidering the Light of Mr. Claytons Diamond, it recall’d into my mind, that ſome years before, when I was Inquiſitive about Stones, I had met with an old Italian Book highly extoll’d to me by very competent Judges, and that though the Book were very ſcarce, I had purchas’d it at a dear Rate, for the ſake of a few conſiderable paſſages I met with in it, and particularly one, which being very remarkable in it ſelf, and pertinent to our preſent Argument, I ſhall put it for you, though not word for word, which I fear I have forgot to do, yet as to the Senſe, into Engliſh.
Having promis’d (Says our Author)30 to ſay ſomething of that moſt precious ſort of Jewels, Carbuncles, becauſe they are very rarely to be met with, we ſhall briefly deliver what we know of them. In Clement the ſeventh’s time, I happen’d to ſee one of them at a certain Raguſian Merchants, nam’d Beigoio di Bona, This was a Carbuncle white, of that kind of whiteneſs which we ſaid was to be found in thoſe Rubies of which we made mention a little above, (where he had ſaid that thoſe Rubies had a kind of Livid Whiteneſs or Paleneſs like that of a Calcidonian) but it had in it a Luſtre ſo pleaſing and ſo marveilous, that it ſhin’d in the Dark, but not as much as colour’d Carbuncles, though it be true, that in an exceeding Dark place I ſaw it ſhine in the manner of fire almoſt gone out. But as for colour’d Carbuncles, it has not been my Fortune to have ſeen any, wherefore I will onely ſet down what I Learn’d about them Diſcourſing in my Youth with a Roman Gentleman of antient Experience in matters of Jewels, who told me, That one Jacopo Cola being by Night in a Vineyard of his, and eſpying ſomething in the midſt of it, that ſhin’d like a little glowing Coal, at the foot of a Vine, went near towards the place where he thought himſelf to have ſeen that fire, but not finding it, he ſaid, that being return’d to the ſame place, whence he had firſt deſcry’d it, and perceiving there the ſame ſplendor as before, he mark’d it ſo heedfully, that he came at length to it, where he took up a very little Stone, which he carry’d away with Tranſports and Joy. And the next day carrying it about to ſhow it divers of his Friends, whilſt he was relating after what manner he found it, there caſually interven’d a Venetian Embaſſadour, exceedingly expert in Jewels, who preſently knowing it to be a Carbuncle, did craftily before he and the ſaid Jacopo parted (ſo that there was no Body preſent that underſtood the Worth of ſo Precious a Gemm) purchaſe it for the Value of 10. Crowns, and the next day left Rome to ſhun the being neceſſitated to reſtore it, and (as he affirm’d) it was known within ſome while after that the ſaid Venetian Gentleman did in Conſtantinople ſell that Carbuncle to the then Grand Seignior, newly come to the Empire, for a hundred thouſand Crowns. And this is what I can ſay concerning Carbuncles, and this is not a little at leaſt as to the firſt part of this account, where our Cellini affirms himſelf to have ſeen a Real Carbuncle with his own Eyes, eſpecially ſince this Author appears wary in what he delivers, and is inclin’d rather to leſſen, than increaſe the wonder of it. And his Teſtimony is the more conſiderable, becauſe though he were born a Subject neither to the Pope nor the then King of France (that Royal Virtuoſo Francis the firſt) yet both the one and the other of thoſe Princes imploy’d him much about making of their Nobleſt Jewels. What is now reported concerning a Shining Subſtance to be ſeen in one of the Iſlands about Scotland, were very improper for me to mention to Sr. Robert Morray, to whom the firſt Information was Originally brought, and from whom I expect a farther (for I ſcarce dare expect a convincing) account of it. But I muſt not omit that ſome Virtuoſo queſtioning me the other day at White-Hall about Mr. Claytons Diamond, and meeting amongſt them an Ingenious Dutch Gentleman, whoſe Father was long Embaſſador for the Netherlands in England, I Learn’d of him, that, he is acquainted with a perſon, whoſe Name he told (but I do not well remember it) who was Admiral of the Dutch in the Eaſt-Indies, and who aſſur’d this Gentleman Monſieur Boreel, that at his return from thence he brought back with him into Holland a Stone, which though it look’d but like a Pale Dull Diamond, ſuch as he ſaw Mr. Claytons to be, yet was it a Real Carbuncle, and did without rubbing ſhine ſo much, that when the Admiral had occaſion to open a Cheſt which he kept under Deck in a Dark place, where ’twas forbidden to bring Candles for fear of Miſchances, as ſoon as he open’d the Trunck, the Stone would by its Native Light, ſhine ſo as to Illuſtrate a great part of it, and this Gentleman having very civilly and readily granted me the requeſt I made him, to Write to the Admiral, who is yet alive in Holland, (and probably may ſtill have the Jewel by him,) for a particular account of this Stone, I hope ere long to receive it, which will be the more welcome to me, not onely becauſe ſo unlikely a thing needs a cleer evidence, but becauſe I have had ſome ſuſpition of that (ſuppoſing the truth of the thing) what may be a ſhining Stone in a very hot Countrey as the Eaſt-Indies, may perhaps ceaſe to be ſo (at leaſt in certain ſeaſons,) in one as cold as Holland. For I obſerv’d in the Diamond I ſend you an account of, that not onely rubbing but a very moderate degree of warmth, though excited by other wayes, would make it ſhine a little. And ’tis not impoſſible that there may be Stones as much more ſuſceptible than that, of the Alterations requiſite to make a Diamond ſhine, as that appeares to be more ſuſceptible of them, than ordinary Diamonds. And I confeſs to you, that this is not the only odd ſuſpition (for they are not ſo much as conjectures) that what I try’d upon this Diamond ſuggeſted to me. For not here to entertain you with the changes I think may be effected ev’n in harder ſorts of Stones, by wayes not vulgar, nor very promiſing, becauſe I may elſewhere have occaſion to ſpeak of them, and this Letter is but too Prolix already, that which I ſhall now acknowledge to you is, That I began to doubt whether there may not in ſome Caſes be ſome Truth in what is ſaid of the right Turquois, that it often changes Colour as the wearer is Sick or Well, and manifeſtly loſes its ſplendor at his Death. For when I found that ev’n the warmth of an Affriction that laſted not above a quarter of a minute, Nay, that of my Body, (whoſe Conſtitution you know is none of the hotteſt) would make a manifeſt change in the ſolideſt of Stones a Diamond, it ſeem’d not impoſſible, that certain warm and Saline ſteams iſſuing from the Body of a living man, may by their plenty or paucity, or by their peculiar Nature, or by the total abſence of them, diverſifie the Colour, and the ſplendor of ſo ſoft a Stone as the Turquois. And though I admir’d to ſee, that I know not how many Men otherwiſe Learn’d, ſhould confidently aſcribe to Jewels ſuch Virtues as ſeem no way competible to Inanimate Agents, if to any Corporeal ones at all, yet as to what is affirm’d concerning the Turquois’s changing Colour, I know not well how to reject the Affirmation of ſo Learned (and which in this caſe is much more conſiderable) ſo Judicious a Lapidary as Boetius de Boot31, who upon his own particular and repeated Experience delivers ſo memorable a Narrative of the Turquois’s changing Colour, that I cannot but think it worth your Peruſal, eſpecially ſince a much later and very Experienc’d Author, Olaus Wormius,32 where he treats of that Stone, Confirms it with this Teſtimony. Imprimis memorandum exemplum quod Anſhelmus Boetius de ſeipſo refert, tam mutati Coloris, quam à caſu preſervationis. Cui & ipſe haud diſſimile adferre poſsum, niſi ex Anſhelmo petitum quis putaret. I remember that I ſaw two or three years ſince a Turcois (worn in a Ring) wherein there were ſome ſmall ſpots, which the Virtuoſo whoſe it was aſur’d me he had obſerv’d to grow ſometimes greater ſometimes leſs, and to be ſometimes in one part of the Stone, ſometimes in another. And I having encourag’d to make Pictures from time to time of the Stone, and of the Situation of the cloudy parts, thatſo their Motion may be more indiſputable, and better obſerv’d, he came to me about the midle of this very week, and aſſur’d me that he had, as I wiſh’d, made from time to time Schemes or Pictures of the differing parts of the Stone, whereby the ſeveral Removes and motions of the above mentioned Clouds are very manifeſt, though the cauſe ſeem’d to him very occult: theſe Pictures he has promis’d to ſhow me, and is very ready to put the Stone it ſelf into my hands. But the ring having been the other day caſually broken upon his finger, unleſs it can be taken out, and ſet again without any conſiderable heat, he is loath to have it medled with, for fear its peculiarity ſhould be thereby deſtroy’d. And poſſibly his apprehenſion would have been ſtrengthen’d, if I had had opportunity to tell him what is related by the Learned Wormius33 of an acquaintance of his, that had a Nephritick ſtone, of whoſe eminent Virtues he had often Experience ev’n in himſelf, and for that cauſe wore it ſtill about his Wriſt; and yet going upon a time into a Bath of fair Water only, wherein certain Herbs had been boyl’d, the Stone by being wetted with this decoction, was depriv’d of all his Virtue, whence Wormius takes Occaſion to advertiſe the ſick, to lay by ſuch ſtones whenſoever they make uſe of a Bath. And we might expect to find Turcos likewiſe, eaſily to be wrought upon in point of Colour, if that were true, which the curious Antonio Neri, in his ingenious Arte Vetraria34 teaches of it, namely, That Turcois’s diſcolour’d and grown white, will regain and acquire an excellent Colour, if you but keep them two or three days at moſt cover’d with Oyl of ſweet Almonds kept in a temperate heat by warm aſhes, I ſay if it were true, becauſe I doubt whether it be ſo, and have not as yet had opportunity to ſatisfie my ſelf by Tryals, becauſe I find by the confeſſion of the moſt Skilfull Perſons among whom I have laid out for Turcoiſes, that the true ones are great rarities, though others be not at all ſo. And therefore I ſhall now only mind you of one thing that you know as well as I, namely, that the rare Stone which is called Oculus Mundi, if it be good in its Kind, will have ſo great a change made in its Texture by being barely left a while in the Languideſt of Liquors, common Waters, that from Opacous it will become Tranſparent, and acquire a Luſtre of which it will again be depriv’d, without uſing any other Art or Violence, by leaving it a while in the Air. And before experience had ſatisfy’d us of the truth of this, it ſeem’d as unlikely that common Water or Air, ſhould work ſuch great changes in that Gemm, as it now ſeems that the Effluviums of a human Body ſhould effect leſſer changes in a Turcois, eſpecially if more ſuſceptible of them, than other Stones of the ſame kind. But both my Watch and my Eyes tell me that ’tis now high time to think of going to ſleep, matters of this Nature, will be better, as well as more eaſily, clear’d by Conference, than Writing. And therefore ſince I think you know me too well to make it needfull for me to diſclame Credulity, notwithſtanding my having entertain’d you with all theſe Extravagancies; for you know well, how wide a difference I am wont to put betwixt things that barely may be, and things that are, and between thoſe Relations that are but not unworthy to be inquir’d into, and thoſe that are not worthy to be actually believ’d; without making Apologies for my Ravings, I ſhall readily comply with the drowſineſs that calls upon me to releaſe You, and the rather, becauſe Monſieur Zulichem being concern’d in your deſire to know the few things I have obſerved about the ſhining Stone. To entertain thoſe with Suſpicions that are accuſtomed not to acquieſce but in Demonſtrations, were a thing that cannot be look’d upon as other than very improper by,
SIR,
Your most Affectionate
and
most Faithfull Servant,
RO. BOYLE.