80 ON COLOUR. Paet I. 



persist in calling Line " purple," and a violet " blue ; " while 

 others adopt this gradation in the prism, "blue, purple, 

 violet, red;" and another gives "blue, purple, and violet, 

 or indigo." The same was the case of old; and not only 

 has there been a question about the ancient " purple," and 

 the meaning of the Grreek Tropcpvpeos, or the Latin pur- 

 pureus, but these two words have had several meanings at 

 different periods; and in the writings of different authors. 

 The 7rop<pvp£os of Grreek had a very wide range ; and it was 

 even used to signify any thing "bright," whatever the real 

 colour might be. Homer uses it for the colour of the sea ; the 

 " purpureus (pannus) late qui splendeat " of Horace (A. P. 15) 

 might be of any bright hue ; and the white swan was called 

 by him "purpureis ales Coloribus" (iv. Od. i. 10). There 

 is no evidence of its name having been taken originally from 

 irvp, " fire ; " another word from that root, irvppos, was used 

 for red or scarlet (as by Herodotus and others) ; and Pyrrhus, 

 like Rufus, was applied to men of fiery complexion. Pliny 

 speaks of three purples — one scarlet, another resembling 

 violet, and a third like coagulated blood. The dress of our 

 Saviour is called in St. Matthew xxvii. 28, " scarlet : " in 

 St. John xix. 2, " purple ; " both perhaps alluding rather to 

 its richness of colour than to its exact hue. The imperial 

 purple, as seen in the unchanged mosaics of Ravenna, is the 

 hue which may be received as true purple, that of the stone 

 called porphyry being a far redder hue; and the imperial 

 purple is composed of nearly equal parts of red and blue, 

 which may also be considered to be a true violet colour. 



52. It would be difficult, and very unnecessary, to mention 

 all the different tints which are said "by Eoman artists in 

 mosaic to exceed 30,000 ; " but it may be useful to notice the 

 names of the principal colours in some languages ; and I 

 therefore introduce them in English, Arabic, French, Gferman, 

 Gfreek, Latin, and Italian. 



