f 
\ 6 z 
22 
Experiments 
in Confort, 
toachingthe 
Mixture of 
Sound. 
224 
225 
32 <!> 
l2 7 
J\Qiturall Hiflory 
peecc of Money of Cold founckth farre more flat than a peece of Mo- j 
newo \Silucr. . I 
The Harpe hath th eConcaue, not along the String; but acrofTethe I 
String r* And no Instrument hath the Sound fo Melting,and Prolonged, j 
as the If ilk Harpe. Soas I flippofe, that if a Virginall were made with a j 
double Concave-, the one all the length as the Virginall hath-the other at 
End of the Strings, as the Harpe hath-It mult needs make the Sound 
■ ~ 1 i _VAnmourripir t-V* _ 
tnc 
UIV, XuUVI VI ^ h» 5-- i , ' ... - 
perfetTer,and not lo Shallow,and Iarrmg. You may tneit,without any 
Sound-Board along, but only Harpe-wife, at one end of the strings : 
Or laftly with a double Concaue, at Each end of the String r one. 
1 ' Here is an apparent Diuerfity between the Species Vifiblejt nd Au¬ 
dible, in this j That the Vifible doth not mingle in the Medium, but 
the Audible doth. For if we looke abroad, we fee Heauen,a number of 
Srarres Trees, Hills, Men, Bcafts, at once. And the species of the one 
doth not confound the other. But if fo many founds came from feue- 
rali Parts, one of them would vtterly confound the other. So wee fee, 
that Voices , or Conforts ofMujicke doc make an Harmony by Mixture, 
which Colours doe not.lt is true neuerthelefle, that a great Light drow- 
ncth a lmaller, that it cannot be fecne ; As the S unne that of a clomrme s 
as well as a Great Sound drowneth a lcfler. And I flippofe likewile that 
it there were two Lanthorncs of Glafle, the one a Crimfin, and thco- 
thcr an Azure, and a Candle within either of them, thofc Coloured 
Lights would mingle,and caft vpon a White Paper a Purple Colour. 
And eucn in Colours , they yeeld a faint and weake Mixture : For whire 
walls makeRoomes more lightfome than blacke,&c.But the Cau/e of 
the Confufion in Sounds, and the Jnconfufion in Species Vifiblep s, For that 
th c Sight workech in Right Lines, and maketh feuerall Cones j And fo 
there can be no Coincidence in theE.ye,or Viliiall Point: But Sounds , 
that moue in Oblique and Arcuate Lines, muft needs encounter, and 
diflurbe the one the other. 
The fweeteft and beft Harmony is, when enery Part , or Injtrumene, 
is not heard by it feife,but a Conflation of them all s Which reqnireth 
to (land fomedi fiance off.Euenas it is in the Mixture of Perfumes ; Or 
the Taking of the Smells of feuerall Flowers in the Aire. 
The Difpojition of the Aire, in other gvalities, except ltbeioyned 
wirh Sound, hath no great Operation vpon Sounds : For whether rhe 
Aire be lightfome or darke,hot or cold, quiet or flirring, (except it be 
with Noife ) fweet-fmclling, or thinking, or the like j it importeth not 
much : Some petty Alteration or difference it may make. 
But Sounds doe difturbe andalter the one the other; Sometimes the 
one drowning the other- and making it not heard j Sometimes the one 
Iarrin<r and difeordmg with the other,and making a Confunon^Some- 
times the one Mingling and Compounding with the other, and ma¬ 
king an Harmony. r 
two Voices of lik eloudnes, will not be heard, twice as far,as one 
of 
