§46. GREYS, BLACK, AND WHITE. 71 



tions are considered to form them, as blue, red, and yellow, in 

 various quantities according to the character of the required 

 hue, with or without the addition of white : or one of the 

 primaries mixed with its remaining complementary or acci- 

 dental colour, added to white: as red with green and white ; 

 or violet, orange, and green with white; and others. The 

 character of the grey will depend on the excess of one of its 

 component colours ; and a black-grey, or a blue-grey, a green-, 

 an olive-, or a violet-grey, will take its tone from the greater 

 quantity of the black, or blue, or of the blue and yellow 

 (i.e. green), or of the blue and red (i.e. violet), &c. which may 

 characterise it. Another kind of grey, or neutral tint, is com- 

 posed of purple and black ; and other hues may be made with 

 black so as to form various dark greys. As grey is a cold 

 colour, the addition of too large a quantity of the warm red 

 has an undue effect upon it, by altering its character from a 

 cold to a warm hue ; as the addition of an undue quantity of 

 cold blue to a warm brown changes the nature of the latter, 

 and brings it into another class of colours. The addition of 

 white has a modifying effect ; and while red and yellow, varied 

 in quantity, produce the different tones of scarlet and orange, 

 when diluted with white they give straw, and lemon, and clay 

 colour ; and drabs, as well as the lighter browns, are produced 

 by the addition of white to their original basis. Any one of 

 the primaries mixed with white forms a distinct hue, as does 

 the union of any two of them with white ; thus, red and blue 

 and white, in different proportions, form varieties of purple, 

 violet, and other mixed colours, varying according to the 

 greater or less quantity of blue and red. 



E. Black and Wliite. — While some have classed black and 

 white with the primaries, others maintain that neither of them 

 merits the name of colour ; black absorbing all light, and 

 reflecting none ; and white appearing colourless, though in 

 reality (at least as white light) composed of the three prima- 



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