Cursory remarks on some parts of a work, entitled Studies of nature ; originally written by M. de Saint Pierre, and translated into English by ... Henry Hunter / [William Cole].

  • Cole, William, active 1807.
Date:
1807
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cursory remarks on some parts of a work, entitled Studies of nature ; originally written by M. de Saint Pierre, and translated into English by ... Henry Hunter / [William Cole]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    sively to two bodies, the one white and the other black, which have been equally exposed to the rays of the sun.* Black bodies receive a given degree of heat, and actually take fire, much soon, er than white ones; and, indeed, all bodies be¬ come black before they take fire. From the con¬ trary conclusion, however, M. Dc Saint Pierre infers [Page 10, Vol. IX. Note.] that “ the black “ colour of the skin is a blessing from heaven to “ the nations of the south, because it absorbs the “reflexes of the burning sun under which they ulive.” Whether the black colour of their skin be a blessing, or a curse, to the Africans, we will not dispute ; we will, however, venture to assert, that, if it be the former, it is not for the reason assigned by our author ; and if it be the latter, it is not the greatest curse experienced by multi¬ tudes of those miserable people. May the time speedily arrive, when their intercourse with the * We know not whether the different degrees of heat ab¬ sorbed, and retained by bodies of different colours, have been accurately ascertained ; but the experiment may be easily made, by covering the balls of two thermometers with substances of different colours, and exposing them equally to the rays of the sun. Experiments of this kind, it is presu- would not be altogether useless.