﻿On Color. 



167 



ON COLOR. 

 By Col. James W. Abert. 



This is a subject of great importance to the student of natural history. 

 In many of the objects which come under his scrutiny, colors constitute 

 an important characteristic. Many of these objects lose their tints and 

 undergo subtile changes of color. We find birds, fishes, shells, insects, 

 plants, and even minerals, characterized and exalted to objects of marvel- 

 ous beauty by the quality of color. 



Light and color possess very important relations to organization and 

 life. But I propose to confine my remarks to the systematizing of an 

 arrangement of colors, which I have found of great practical value, in 

 assisting the student in his attempts to give the proper colors to objects of 

 natural history. 



The first three elementary colors, namely : the yellow, the red, and the 

 blue, are called primary colors, and these terms — primary, secondary, and 

 tertiary — not only indicate the order in which the colors stand, but also 

 the character of the combination; for primary designates a simple, ele- 

 mentary color; secondary, a combination of two primaries; and tertiary, 

 a combination of the three primaries — in which one of the said primaries 

 is dominant. 



But there is an inherent defect in the nature of our pigments — none 

 are perfect of their kind ; the yellows contain some red or blue, the reds 

 contain some yellow or blue, and the blues contain some yellow or red; 

 therefore, in mixing, to get brilliant secondary tints, we must so select 

 the two primaries that the third one does not enter; for this would give 

 us a tertiary, which is more or less dull, in proportion to the intensity of 

 the third color thus added. The great difficulty against which we have 

 to contend, is the vague and indefinite ideas that people have of the pri- 

 mary colors. Very few persons have any idea of what the standard, or 

 typical, colore should be. Take, for instance, red; they call numerous colors 

 red — never mind how different the hues may be ; never mind what may be 

 their intensity, whether dark or pale, bright or dull, in light or shadow. 



The culture of the eye for color has been grossly neglected. You may 

 take pictures by the most famous colorists of the Venetian school — Viva- 

 rini, Carpaccio, Tintoretti, Bellini or Titian — in which the masses of color 

 are appropriately balanced, are perfectly harmonized ; diminish or increase 

 the superficial extent of these masses, how few eyes will appreciate any 

 difference. In music, the ear is much better educated; and the slightest 

 sharpening or flattening of a single note which enters into an harmonious 



