PROP. X. Prob. V.

By the discovered Properties of Light to explain the permanent Colours of Natural Bodies.

These Colours arise from hence, that some natural Bodies reflect some sorts of Rays, others other sorts more copiously than the rest. Minium reflects the least refrangible or red-making Rays most copiously, and thence appears red. Violets reflect the most refrangible most copiously, and thence have their Colour, and so of other Bodies. Every Body reflects the Rays of its own Colour more copiously than the rest, and from their excess and predominance in the reflected Light has its Colour.

Exper. 17. For if in the homogeneal Lights obtained by the solution of the Problem proposed in the fourth Proposition of the first Part of this Book, you place Bodies of several Colours, you will find, as I have done, that every Body looks most splendid and luminous in the Light of its own Colour. Cinnaber in the homogeneal red Light is most resplendent, in the green Light it is manifestly less resplendent, and in the blue Light still less. Indigo in the violet blue Light is most resplendent, and its splendor is gradually diminish'd, as it is removed thence by degrees through the green and yellow Light to the red. By a Leek the green Light, and next that the blue and yellow which compound green, are more strongly reflected than the other Colours red and violet, and so of the rest. But to make these Experiments the more manifest, such Bodies ought to be chosen as have the fullest and most vivid Colours, and two of those Bodies are to be compared together. Thus, for instance, if Cinnaber and ultra-marine blue, or some other full blue be held together in the red homogeneal Light, they will both appear red, but the Cinnaber will appear of a strongly luminous and resplendent red, and the ultra-marine blue of a faint obscure and dark red; and if they be held together in the blue homogeneal Light, they will both appear blue, but the ultra-marine will appear of a strongly luminous and resplendent blue, and the Cinnaber of a faint and dark blue. Which puts it out of dispute that the Cinnaber reflects the red Light much more copiously than the ultra-marine doth, and the ultra-marine reflects the blue Light much more copiously than the Cinnaber doth. The same Experiment may be tried successfully with red Lead and Indigo, or with any other two colour'd Bodies, if due allowance be made for the different strength or weakness of their Colour and Light.

And as the reason of the Colours of natural Bodies is evident by these Experiments, so it is farther confirmed and put past dispute by the two first Experiments of the first Part, whereby 'twas proved in such Bodies that the reflected Lights which differ in Colours do differ also in degrees of Refrangibility. For thence it's certain, that some Bodies reflect the more refrangible, others the less refrangible Rays more copiously.

And that this is not only a true reason of these Colours, but even the only reason, may appear farther from this Consideration, that the Colour of homogeneal Light cannot be changed by the Reflexion of natural Bodies.

For if Bodies by Reflexion cannot in the least change the Colour of any one sort of Rays, they cannot appear colour'd by any other means than by reflecting those which either are of their own Colour, or which by mixture must produce it.

But in trying Experiments of this kind care must be had that the Light be sufficiently homogeneal. For if Bodies be illuminated by the ordinary prismatick Colours, they will appear neither of their own Day-light Colours, nor of the Colour of the Light cast on them, but of some middle Colour between both, as I have found by Experience. Thus red Lead (for instance) illuminated with the ordinary prismatick green will not appear either red or green, but orange or yellow, or between yellow and green, accordingly as the green Light by which 'tis illuminated is more or less compounded. For because red Lead appears red when illuminated with white Light, wherein all sorts of Rays are equally mix'd, and in the green Light all sorts of Rays are not equally mix'd, the Excess of the yellow-making, green-making and blue-making Rays in the incident green Light, will cause those Rays to abound so much in the reflected Light, as to draw the Colour from red towards their Colour. And because the red Lead reflects the red-making Rays most copiously in proportion to their number, and next after them the orange-making and yellow-making Rays; these Rays in the reflected Light will be more in proportion to the Light than they were in the incident green Light, and thereby will draw the reflected Light from green towards their Colour. And therefore the red Lead will appear neither red nor green, but of a Colour between both.

In transparently colour'd Liquors 'tis observable, that their Colour uses to vary with their thickness. Thus, for instance, a red Liquor in a conical Glass held between the Light and the Eye, looks of a pale and dilute yellow at the bottom where 'tis thin, and a little higher where 'tis thicker grows orange, and where 'tis still thicker becomes red, and where 'tis thickest the red is deepest and darkest. For it is to be conceiv'd that such a Liquor stops the indigo-making and violet-making Rays most easily, the blue-making Rays more difficultly, the green-making Rays still more difficultly, and the red-making most difficultly: And that if the thickness of the Liquor be only so much as suffices to stop a competent number of the violet-making and indigo-making Rays, without diminishing much the number of the rest, the rest must (by Prop. 6. Part 2.) compound a pale yellow. But if the Liquor be so much thicker as to stop also a great number of the blue-making Rays, and some of the green-making, the rest must compound an orange; and where it is so thick as to stop also a great number of the green-making and a considerable number of the yellow-making, the rest must begin to compound a red, and this red must grow deeper and darker as the yellow-making and orange-making Rays are more and more stopp'd by increasing the thickness of the Liquor, so that few Rays besides the red-making can get through.

Of this kind is an Experiment lately related to me by Mr. Halley, who, in diving deep into the Sea in a diving Vessel, found in a clear Sun-shine Day, that when he was sunk many Fathoms deep into the Water the upper part of his Hand on which the Sun shone directly through the Water and through a small Glass Window in the Vessel appeared of a red Colour, like that of a Damask Rose, and the Water below and the under part of his Hand illuminated by Light reflected from the Water below look'd green. For thence it may be gather'd, that the Sea-Water reflects back the violet and blue-making Rays most easily, and lets the red-making Rays pass most freely and copiously to great Depths. For thereby the Sun's direct Light at all great Depths, by reason of the predominating red-making Rays, must appear red; and the greater the Depth is, the fuller and intenser must that red be. And at such Depths as the violet-making Rays scarce penetrate unto, the blue-making, green-making, and yellow-making Rays being reflected from below more copiously than the red-making ones, must compound a green.

Now, if there be two Liquors of full Colours, suppose a red and blue, and both of them so thick as suffices to make their Colours sufficiently full; though either Liquor be sufficiently transparent apart, yet will you not be able to see through both together. For, if only the red-making Rays pass through one Liquor, and only the blue-making through the other, no Rays can pass through both. This Mr. Hook tried casually with Glass Wedges filled with red and blue Liquors, and was surprized at the unexpected Event, the reason of it being then unknown; which makes me trust the more to his Experiment, though I have not tried it my self. But he that would repeat it, must take care the Liquors be of very good and full Colours.

Now, whilst Bodies become coloured by reflecting or transmitting this or that sort of Rays more copiously than the rest, it is to be conceived that they stop and stifle in themselves the Rays which they do not reflect or transmit. For, if Gold be foliated and held between your Eye and the Light, the Light looks of a greenish blue, and therefore massy Gold lets into its Body the blue-making Rays to be reflected to and fro within it till they be stopp'd and stifled, whilst it reflects the yellow-making outwards, and thereby looks yellow. And much after the same manner that Leaf Gold is yellow by reflected, and blue by transmitted Light, and massy Gold is yellow in all Positions of the Eye; there are some Liquors, as the Tincture of Lignum Nephriticum, and some sorts of Glass which transmit one sort of Light most copiously, and reflect another sort, and thereby look of several Colours, according to the Position of the Eye to the Light. But, if these Liquors or Glasses were so thick and massy that no Light could get through them, I question not but they would like all other opake Bodies appear of one and the same Colour in all Positions of the Eye, though this I cannot yet affirm by Experience. For all colour'd Bodies, so far as my Observation reaches, may be seen through if made sufficiently thin, and therefore are in some measure transparent, and differ only in degrees of Transparency from tinged transparent Liquors; these Liquors, as well as those Bodies, by a sufficient Thickness becoming opake. A transparent Body which looks of any Colour by transmitted Light, may also look of the same Colour by reflected Light, the Light of that Colour being reflected by the farther Surface of the Body, or by the Air beyond it. And then the reflected Colour will be diminished, and perhaps cease, by making the Body very thick, and pitching it on the backside to diminish the Reflexion of its farther Surface, so that the Light reflected from the tinging Particles may predominate. In such Cases, the Colour of the reflected Light will be apt to vary from that of the Light transmitted. But whence it is that tinged Bodies and Liquors reflect some sort of Rays, and intromit or transmit other sorts, shall be said in the next Book. In this Proposition I content my self to have put it past dispute, that Bodies have such Properties, and thence appear colour'd.