56 fHfi ORIGIN OP C 



<days, seem _ to assert that there is no colour whatever in tn6 

 earth, and that all the brilliant hues which we see in a sum- 

 mer's day, are imparted to objects by light. 



Herschell, Tyndall, Maxwell, Helmholtz, Brewer, Parker and 

 others, endeavoured to prove this, and there is no doubt that it 

 is the rock on which they have stranded. 



Science in many ways is like a voyage of discovery into 

 Unknown seas and rivers, amidst which navigators have heard 

 that certain lands are to be found. Jtfow one philosopher and 

 now another takes the helm, and after placing buoys at differ- 

 ent points to mark the channels of knowledge from which no 

 succeeding explorer must deviate, and whose correctness no one 

 must question ; they stumble along from one quicksand to 

 another, till they are lost amidst rocks and shoals. This is 

 what is being done in the region of colour, as well as in many 

 other branches of science. 



One observer having a slight show of plausibility to support 

 him, asserted that there was no colour naturally on the earth, 

 but that it Was imparted to it by light. There being no better 

 theory at the time, it Was not questioned much. A buoy was 

 immediately placed, and every scientific man guided by this, at 

 once commenced to puzzle his brains in order to account for the 

 colours in the light, and how they acted on objects around us. 

 First, the refraction theory, and then the undulatory theory was 

 started, but they have both miserably failed. 



We now introduce the atomagnetic ; and as it springs from 

 primary causes, and elements, altogether, and as no buoys or 

 soundings by previous observers are recognized unless they 

 stand our own test, we feel sure it has better claims to stability 

 than any that have been previously advanced. 



