198 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



Blue Drapery. Blue imparts orange, which is susceptible of allying 

 itself favorably to white and the light flesh tints of fair complexions, which 

 have already a more or less determined tint of this color. Blue is, then, 

 suitable to most blondes, and in this case justifies its reputation. It will 

 not suit brunettes, since they have already too much of orange. 



Orange Drapery. Orange is too brilliant to be elegant ; it makes fair 

 complexions blu.e, whitens those which have an orange tint, and gives a 

 green hue to those of a yellow tint. 



While Drapery. Drapery of a lustrous white, such as cambric muslin, 

 assorts well with a fresh complexion, of which it relieves the rose color ; 

 but it is unsuitable to complexions which have a disagreeable tint, because 

 white always exalts all colors by raising their tone ; consequently it is 

 unsuitable to those skins which, without having this disagreeable tint, very 

 nearly approach it. Yery light white draperies, such as muslin, plaited or 

 point lace, have an entirely different aspect. * * * 



Black Drapery. Black draperies, lowering the tone of the colors with 

 which they are in juxtaposition, whiten the skin ; but if the vermilion or 

 rosy parts are to a certain point distant from the drapery, it will follow 

 that, although lowered in tone, they appear relatively to the white parts of 

 the skin contiguous to the same drapery redder than if the contiguity to 

 the black did not exist." 



The delicate perception of beauty that the young may be trained to 

 from the education of the sense of sight, may be gathered from the follow- 

 ing laws of discord in the grouping of flowers : 



" We must separate pink flowers from those that are either scarlet or 

 crimson, orange flowers from orange-yellow flowers, yellow flowers from 

 greenish-yellow flowers, blue flowers from violet- blue flowers, red flowers 

 from orange flowers, pink flowers from violet flowers, blue flowers from 

 violet flowers." 



The subjoined rules of taste in furniture show the pleasure that we lose 

 from the possession of that bound genii, that unintelligible talisman, a 

 dormant sense : 



" Nothing contributes so much to enhance the beauty of a stuff intended 

 for chairs, sofas, &c., as the selection of the wood to which it is attached ; 

 and, reciprocally, nothing contributes so much to increase the beauty of 

 the wood as the color of the stuff in juxtaposition with it. After what 

 has been said, it is evident that we must assort violet or blue stuffs with 

 yellow woods, such as citron, the roots of the ash, maple, satin-wood, &c.; 

 green stuffs with rose or red-colored woods, as mahogany. Violet or 

 blue-grays are equally good with yellow woods, as green-grays are with 

 the red woods. But in all these assortments, to obtain the best possible 

 effect it is necessary to take into consideration the contrast resulting from 

 height of tone ; for a dark-blue or violet stuff will not accord so well with 

 a yellow wood as a light tone of the same colors ; and it is for this reason 

 that yellow does not assort so well with mahogany as with a wood of the 

 same color, but not so deep. Among the harmonies of contrast of tone 



