110 SALMONlDiE. 



of light in the production of colours, and then think how much 

 the transmission of light through different media, as, for instance, 

 waters of different degrees of density, purity, and colour, affects 

 the light itself, we shall find the theory far less extravagant than 

 it strikes us at a first glance. 



And here, I shall quote an anecdote, related in " Salmonia," 

 for the purpose of elucidating an entirely different point, which 

 yet is so much to the purpose, in the present instance, that 

 it is even more valuable in illustration of this, than of that for 

 which it is quoted. 



" A manufacturer of carmine," thus runs the story, " who 

 was aware of the superiority of the French colour, went to 

 Lyons for the purpose of improving his process, and bargained 

 with the most celebrated manufacturer in that capital for the 

 acquisition of his secret, for which he was to pay a thousand 

 pounds. He was shown all the processes, and saw a beautiful 

 colour produced, yet he found not the least diflPerence in the 

 French mode of fabrication and that which he had constantly 

 adopted. He appealed to the manufacturer, and insisted that 

 he must have concealed something. The manufacturer assured 

 him that he had not, and invited him to see the process a second 

 time. He minutely examined the water, and the materials, 

 which were the same as his own, and, very much surprised, said, 

 ' I have lost my labour and my money, for the air of England 

 does not permit us to make good carmine.^ ' Stay,' says the 

 Frenchman, ' do not deceive yourself; what kind of weather is 

 it now?' 'A bright sunny day,' said the Englishman. ^And 

 such are the days,' said the Frenchman, ' on which I make my 

 colour. Were I to attempt to manufacture it on a dark or 



