168 Reviews. 



produced by adding to the isolated colour so much of the comple- 

 ment of the colour which by its proximity, modifies it. 



It had long been known, as Chevreul amply acknowledges, that 

 when the eye is fatigued by looking at one colour it sees its com- 

 plementary ; but it was reserved for him to show that fatigue is 

 not essential to the development of the phenomenon, or rather 

 that there are two phenomena which have been confounded toge- 

 ther, — the one, long observed, where the eye gazing long on one 

 colour, sees thereafter on white surfaces its complementary ; the 

 other that discovered by Chevreul, where the colour and its com- 

 plement are seen side by side. The former he names the Succes- 

 sive contrast ; his own discovery the Simultaneous Contrast of 

 Colours ; and he points out very clearly that the phenomena may 

 intermingle so as to give rise to what he calls Mixed contrast of 

 colours. 



The application of those observations to the practice of the 

 chromatic arts is carried out by Chevreul in the most elaborate 

 and interesting way. With the utmost patience, conscientious- 

 ness, and sagacity, he illustrates the light which his discoveries 

 throw on the details of painting, glass- staining, tapestry-weaving, 

 carpet-making, the selection of furniture, the arrangement of 

 flowers in gardens, the provision of uniforms for soldiers, the 

 choice of linings for ladies' bonnets, and much else. 



Those things lie beyond our sphere, but we could wish that 

 some of our writers who publish on the Harmony of Colours in 

 organised beings would study Chevreul. They might find that 

 they had been long anticipated, and even surpassed. Much, for 

 example, has been said regarding the occurrence of complementary 

 colours in flowers and birds, as if the discovery were something 

 new. It is not only old, but those who read the book will find that 

 an explanation (as we venture at least to suggest) of the pleasure 

 w T ith which the complementary colours, such as red and green as- 

 sociated in plants and in birds, is to be found in the fact pointed out 

 by Chevreul, that when complementary colours are placed together, 

 each exalts the other, so that red makes green greener, and green 

 makes red redder, than either would appear alone. The eye is 

 gratified with the full colour in these cases, not in virtue of some 

 vague recognition of complementaries, but because by no other 

 arrangement can two colours be made to show so fully and richly. 



We cannot forbear stating that justice is not done to Chevreul 

 in the present translation. It is awkward, inelegant, often bar- 

 barous in style, and sometimes quite unintelligible. Uncoloured 

 diagrams, also, are employed in illustrating the work, but they are 

 most inadequate ; and the plea for omitting colours, that the 

 reader can make such for himself is untenable ; for a reader skilful 

 enough to do that need not study Chevreul. 



