FIELD AND HEDGEROW. 



in spectrum analysis, and the theory of the polarisation 

 of light was fairly familiar ; any number of books, but 

 not what I wanted to know. Next the idea occurred 

 to me of buying all the colours used in painting, and 

 tinting as many pieces of paper a separate hue, and so 

 comparing these with petals, and wings, and grass, and 

 trifolium. This did not answer at all ; my unskilful 

 hands made a very poor wash, and the yellow paper set 

 by a yellow petal did not agree, the scientific reason of 

 which I cannot enter into now. Secondly, the names 

 attached to man}- of these paints are unfamiliar to 

 general readers ; it is doubtful if bistre, Leitch's blue, 

 oxide of chromium, and so on, would convey an idea. 

 They might as well be Greek symbols : no use to attempt 

 to describe hues of heath or hill in that way. These, 

 too, are only distinct colours. What was to be done 

 with all the shades and tones? Still there remained the 

 language of the studio ; without doubt a master of paint- 

 ing could be found who would quickly supply the tech- 

 nical term of anything I liked to show him ; but again 

 no use, because it would be technical. And a still more 

 insurmountable difficulty occurs : in so far as I have 

 looked at pictures, it seems as if the artists had met 

 with the same obstacle in paints as I have in words- 

 that is to say, a deficiency. Either painting is incom- 

 petent to express the extreme beauty of nature, or in 

 some way the canons of art forbid the attempt. There- 

 fore I had to turn back, throw down my books with a 

 bang, and get me to a bit of fallen timber in the open 

 air to meditate. 



Would it be possible to build up a fresh system of 

 colour language by means of natural objects? Could 

 we say pine-wood green, larch green, spruce green, wasp 

 yellow, humble-bee amber ? And there are fungi that have 



