Extract from 'Quæstiones quædam Philosophiæ' ('Certain Philosophical Questions')

Author: Isaac Newton

Source: MS Add. 3996, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK

Published online: October 2003

Additional Information
- Notes on the Electronic Edition
  - See R.S. Westfall, 'Short-Writing and the State of Newton's Conscience, 1662', Notes and Records of the Royal Society 18 (1963), 10-16, p. 15 for the decoding of the brief shorthand passage on p.129.
  - You are currently reading the diplomatic version of this text. Diplomatic transcriptions offer a detailed representation of the document with minimal editorial intervention. All deletions and additions are rendered in the text and abbreviations have not been expanded. Switching to the normalized view of this text will hide 8 deletions, silently include 5 additions and apply 59 editorial regularizations.
- Revision History
  - 1 January 2001
    - Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young
  - 1 May 2003
    - Transcribed and tagged by Linda Cross
  - 1 October 2003
    - Proofed by Robert Iliffe
  - 25 October 2006
    - Coding audited and updated to Newton v2.0 DTD by Michael Hawkins
  - 8 June 2007
    - Embedded images encoded by Michael Hawkins
  - 8 October 2007
    - Coding reviewed and fine-tuned by John Young
  - 20 April 2009
    - Updated to Newton V3.0 (TEI P5 Schema) by Michael Hawkins
  - 8 September 2011
    - Coding upgraded by John Young.
  - 29 September 2011
    - Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins

[Switch to normalized extract] [Manuscript Images][Catalogue Entry]

Read the complete text at:
http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/diplomatic/THEM00092

9 If I presse my eye on y^e left side (when I looke towards my right hand) as at a, yⁿ I see a w^ch is circle of red as at c but w^thin y^e red is blew for y^e capillamenta are more pressed at n & o & round about y^e finger yⁿ at a towards y^e midst of y^e finger. y^t ꝑte of y^e apparitiō at q is more languid because y^e capillamenta at o are duller & if y^e finger move towards e two much it vanisheth at q & appeareth semicircular but if I put my finger at e or {b} y^e apparition wholly vanisheth. By puting a brasse plate betwixt my eye & y^e bone nigher to y^e midst of y^e {tunica} retina yⁿ I could put my finger I mad a very vivid impression <124r> But of an ellipticall figue because y^e edge of y^e plate w^th w^ch I prest my eye was long & not round like my finger If I was in y^e darke \& y^e impression be very strong/ towards y^e outside appeared a broade circle of purple next blew yⁿ greene yⁿ yellow, red \like flame/, yellow, greene, blew, purple w^ch growing from a very darke by degrees to a lighter colo blew ends in a greene in y^e midst. The colours I suppose next y^e flameing red looke something y^e darker by reason of its splendor. And if y^e experiment bee done in y^e light so y^t though my eyes were shut yet some rays got through my eye lids y^e \outmost/ purple would appeare of a colour inclining to blacknes by reason I suppose of y^e bordering light. also {illeg} if y^e pressure was not very strong y^e greene \& purple/ at a would not be preceived in y^e darke but it would be something lighter in y^e light yⁿ y^t in other places of y^e eye as at v or w, & all y^e other outmost colours w^thout strong pression bee but {illeg} blew. but if y^e presion be strong in y^e light y^e apparition will but little vary from w^t it is in y^e darke. beyond all y^e colours as {illeg}|be|tweene o & e y^e light is stronger yⁿ in other places as at v or w, because y^e pressure helpes y^e motion from w^thout but is not strong enough to turne it to colour