on Coloured Shadows. 59 



I afterwards tried a glass of a bright amethyst 

 colour, and was surprised to find that the shadows 

 still continued to be coloured blue and yellow. The 

 yellow, it is true, had a dirty purple cast ; but the blue, 

 though a little inclining to green, was nevertheless a 

 clean, bright, decided colour. 



Having no other coloured glass at hand to push 

 these particular inquiries farther, I now removed the 

 candles, and opening two holes in the upper parts of 

 the window-shutters of two neighbouring windows, I 

 let into the room, from above, two beams of light from 

 different parts of the heavens ; and, placing the instru- 

 ment in such a manner that two distinct shadows were 

 projected by the cylinder upon the paper, I was enter- 

 tained by a succession of very amusing appearances. 



The shadows were tinged with an infinite variety of 

 the most unexpected and often most beautiful colours, 

 which continually varying, sometimes slowly and 

 sometimes with inconceivable rapidity, absolutely fas- 

 cinated the eyes, and, commanding the most eager 

 attention, afforded an enjoyment as new as it was 

 bewitching. 



It was a windy day, with flying clouds, and it seemed 

 as if every cloud that passed brought with it another 

 complete succession of varying hues and most harmo- 

 nious tints. If any colour could be said to predominate, 

 it was purples; but all the varieties of browns, and 

 almost all the other colours I ever remembered to have 

 seen, appeared in their turns, and there were even 

 colours which seemed to me to be perfectly new. 



Reflecting upon the great variety of colours ob- 

 served in these last experiments, many of which did 

 not appear to have the least relation to the apparent 



