(583)
rather greater, than at all less, than before it was put into the Receiver. But partly for greater certainty, and partly to enjoy so delightful a spectacle, we repeated the Experiment with the like success as at first. Wherefore being desirous to see how soon these Changes might be produced, we included the Wood in a very small Receiver of clear Glass, and found, That in this the Light would begin to grow faint at the second, or at least at the third Exsuction of the Air, and at the sixth or seventh would quite disappear. And we found by a Minute-Watch, that the sending the Candles out of the Room, the pumping out the Air 'till the Wood would shine no more, the readmitting of the Air (upon which it would in a trice recover its Light) and the sending in for the Candles to consult the Watch, did in all take up but six Minutes.
Experiment III.
The forementioned Experiment, without taking, notice how long it lasted, being reiterated twice in this new Receiver, we had a desire to see, whether this luminousness of our Wood would more resemble a Coal, or the Life of a perfect Animal, in being totally and finally extinguisht, in case the Air were kept from it a few minutes, or else the Life of Insects, which in our exhausted Receiver I had observed to lose all appearance of its continuing, and that for a much longer time than a few minutes, and yet afterwards, upon the restitution of Air, to recover presently, and shew manifest signs of Life? Wherefore having exhausted the Receiver, 'till the Wood quite disappeared; we stayed somewhat above a quarter of an hour in the dark, without perceiving that the Wood had regained any thing of Light, though about the end of this time we made the place about it as dark as we could; and then it being too late at night to protract the Experiment, we let in the Air, upon whose admission the Wood presently recovered Light enough to be conspicuous at at distance, though it seemed to me somewhat less vivid than before, which yet may be either a weakness in my sight, or an effect of the steams of the Cement; unfriendly perhaps to the Luminousness of the Wood.
