chools, though they dispute amongst themselves divers
particulars concerning Colours, yet in this they seem Unanimously enough to
Agree, that Colours are Inherent and Real Qualities, which the Light doth
but Disclose, and not concurr to Produce. Besides there are _Moderns_, who
with a slight Variation adopt the Opinion of _Plato_, and as he would have
Colour to be nothing but a Kind of Flame consisting of Minute Corpuscles as
it were Darted by the Object against the Eye, to whose Pores their
Littleness and Figure made them congruous, so these would have Colour to be
an Internal Light of the more Lucid parts of the Object, Darkned and
consequently Alter'd by the Various Mixtures of the less Luminous parts.
There are also others, who in imitation of some of the Ancient _Atomists_,
make Colour not to be Lucid steam, but yet a Corporeal _Effluvium_ issuing
out of the Colour'd Body, but the Knowingst of these have of late Reform'd
their Hypothesis, by acknowledging and adding that some External Light is
necessary to Excite, and as _they_ speak, Sollicit these Corpuscles of
Colour as _they_ call them, and Bring them to the Eye. Another and more
principal Opinion of the _Modern_ Philosophers, to which this last nam'd
may by a Favourable explication be reconcil'd, is that which derives
Colours from the Mixture of Light and Darkness, or rather Light and
Shadows. And as for the _Chymists_ 'tis known, that the generality of them
ascribes the Origine of Colours to the Sulphureous Principle in Bodies,
though I find, as I elsewhere largely shew, that some of the Chiefest of
them derive Colours rather from Salt than Sulphur, and others, from the
third Hypostatical Principle, _Mercury_. And as for the _Cartesians_ I need
not tell you, that they, supposing the Sensation of Light to bee produc'd
by the Impulse made upon the Organs of Sight, by certain extremely Minute
and Solid Globules, to which the Pores of the Air and other Diaphanous
bodies are pervious, endeavour to derive the Varieties of Colours from the
Various Proportion of the Direct Progress or Motion of these Globules to
their Circumvolution or Motion about their own Centre, by which Varying
Proportion they are by this Hypothesis suppos'd qualify'd to strike the
Optick Nerve after several Distinct manners, so to produce the perception
of Differing Colours.

2. Besides these six principal Hypotheses, _Pyrophilus_, there may be some
others, which though Less known, may perhaps as