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PART I.

ANALOGY OF

COLORS AND SOUNDS.

§ 1. THE term CHROMATICS denotes herein the science of the relations of light, shade and colors, as that of HARMONICS does the science of the parallel relations of acuteness, gravity and harmonious sounds.

2. Light and shade are achromatic or colorless, or they are chromatic or colored. Light, shade and colors are also either inherent, as in pigments, &c., or transient, as in the sun-beam, rain-bow, prismatic spectrum, &c. The first arising from reflection, the latter from refraction, &c.

S. Inherent light and shade are called white and black, and in their transient state they are denominated light and dark.

4. The principles of light and shade are the agent and patient of every visual effect, they are therefore correlative, co-essential and concurrent; accordingly, the light of day and the sun-beam itself are compounds of light and shade; nor is pure light or its opposite in any case an object of vision.

5. These principles have, therefore, three states or modes of concurrence; one sensible, as above (§ 3); another latent, as in colors; and a third in which the sensible and latent are compounded; thus the principles of light and shade are co-essential and concurrent latently in the colors of pigments, &c. which also variously participate of these powers sensibly in the variety of their depth and brilliancy (§ 19).

'The term chromatic, throughout this Essay, refers to colors only, and not, in the sense of the musician, to sounds.

6. In these respects also light and shade are to colors what acute and grave are to sounds, each being participated sensibly or latently. These principles of colors and sounds correspond also as antagonists, whence as the spark of light shines in darkness, so does the acute note of a pipe sound more brilliantly amid the grave sounds of deep-toned instruments.

The principles of light and shade in their sensible state have two extremes and a mean, denominated inherently, WHITE, BLACK and GRAY; the intermedia or degrees of which are indefinite or infinite.

7. These principles have also a similar triple relation latently, both which relations are compounded or conjoined in colors. Accordingly, when in latent concurrence the element or principle of black or shade predominates, it determines the color BLUE; when that of white or light predominates, it determines the color YELLOW, and when these principles concur without predominance, they determine the medial color RED.

Such also are the relations of the common chord of the musician to the acute and grave in sounds; C taking the relation of acute, and G that of grave; and of these E is intermediate, and partakes of both.

8. By the union of the above three positive colors in due subordination, they are neutralised, and the negative colors, gray, &c. elicited by a transition of their principles from latent to sensible

concurrence.

Thus also the notes of the common chord coalesce in one united sound, which sound is higher or lower in acuteness or gravity according to the position of the chord.

9. Thus the PRIMARY COLORS resulting from the analysis, or concurring in the synthesis of these principles or fundamentals in union, are three, the first and lowest number capable of uniting in variety, harmony or system; and this variety of union can be only three.

10. First, from the compounding of the primaries, blue and red, proceeds the secondary PURPLE on the dark extreme; secondly, from that of yellow and red proceeds ORANGE on the light extreme; and thirdly, from the union of blue and yellow, proceeds medially the secondary GREEN.'

To those who are acquainted with the composition of colors, these first relations will be sufficiently evident; but, for ocular demonstration, and a more extended view of the particular and general relations of colors than the present Essay admitted, we refer to a work entitled CHROMATICS, or an Essay on the Analogy and Harmony of Colors, of which a small number have been published by Mr. Newman, Soho Square, illustrated with colored diagrams. See also the following Appendix, Exp. XVII.

In like manner, from the concurrence of any two sounds of the musical triad or common chord proceeds a third concordant or harmonic sound.

are

11. It follows of course, that the SECONDARY COLORS capable of the same variety of union as their primaries, and with like relation to their fundamentals: accordingly, from the pairing of the secondaries, purple and green, proceeds the tertiary OLIVE on the dark extreme: from that of green and orange on the light extreme, proceeds the tertiary drab or CITRINE; and finally from the union of purple and orange proceeds the medial tertiary

RUSSET.

12. Of these TERTIARIES, blue predominates in and gives its relations to the olive, yellow to the citrine, and red to the

russet.

13. As in each of the secondary colors two primaries meet, so in each of the tertiaries the three primaries are united; it follows hence, that no new distinctions can proceed from the triple combination of the tertiaries; accordingly their compounds take the indefinite term BROWN, though better denominated russet-olive, olive-russet, &c.

To a similar relation may be referred sounds, not musical or less harmonic, such as the vocal tones of speech, &c. which, analogously to these colors, are to be considered as broken, compounded or less positive in their relations.

14. There remain yet the collateral or indirect relations of colors; first, of a primary with a secondary; secondly, of a primary with a tertiary; and finally, of a secondary with a tertiary; but these may for the present be passed over, since they afford us Do new specific distinctions.

15. Such are the distinctions, relations and gradations of colors, as determined by the various predominance of their first principles through an orderly and infinite progress toward the neutral gray; the position at which this progress terminates; and the equilibrium of these first principles is re-established in unity according to a naturally perfect system.

16. As the neutralisation or negation of colors depends upon the reunion of the three primaries (§ 8) it is evident that each of the primary colors is neutralised by that secondary which is composed of the two other primaries alternately: thus blue is neutralised or extinguished by orange, red by green, and yellow by purple.

17. For the same reason each of the secondaries is neutralised by that tertiary in which the remaining primary predominates: thus purple is neutralised by citrine, green by russet, and orange

1 See Appendix, Exp. XVIII., and following remarks.

by olive. The like follows of the tertiaries, &c. Hence there is an unity, accordance or harmony of opposition, as well as a melody or harmony of succession in colors.

18. The compounds of the latter order of colors approach yet nearer toward the perfect neutral. Perfect neutrality depends, however upon a due subordination of the primary colors in which blue predominates in proportion to the depth of the compound, and yellow is subordinate to red; or of the secondaries in which purple predominates, and orange is subordinate to green; or, finally, of the tertiaries in which olive predominates, and citrine is subordinate to russet.

19. All the foregoing colors, primary, secondary, &c., in their reciprocal combinations have infinite intermedia or degrees, whence the boundless variety of hues. They have also infinite intermedia between the extremes of depth and diluteness, whence also the boundless variety of shades.

20. Upon the gradation of hues and shades depend the sweetest effects of color in nature and painting, analogous to the effect of melody or succession in musical sounds; they may therefore be termed the melodies of color.

21. The accordance of two colors in the foregoing instances coincides with what the musician terms CONCORD; which is the agreement of two sounds either in consonance or succession; the opposite of which is discord. Thus also HARMONY, both with the musician and chromatist, signifies the accordance of three or more sounds or colors in consonance or opposition.

22. As a verbal description of the compound relations of colors, unaccompanied by examples, would be unintelligible, and such relations being more of practical reference than essential to our present design, we refer the reader, for farther satisfaction on this head, to the Essay before mentioned, wherein we have treated of the general relations or harmony of colors in their several scales, indicated their various archeii or rays, illustrated them with colored examples, and deduced from the whole the following corollary :

THAT THERE CAN BE NO PERFECT HARMONY OF COLORS IN WHICH EITHER OF THE THREE PRIMARIES (simple or compounded) IS WANTED; AND THAT THE DISTINCTIONS OF

HARMONY DEPEND UPON A PREDOMINANCE OF ONE AND A SUBORDINATION OF THE OTHER TWO IN THE COMPO

SITION.

23. Having thus briefly deduced the genera and species of colors from their first principles, shown their various relations and accordances, and pointed out some of their coincidences with the diatonic system of the musician, in natural order as they arise,

we may terminate our parallel of sounds and colors by exhibiting their co-arrangement in the following diagram, in which the expanded scale of the chromatist, represented at AAB, is brought into line, and accommodated to the diatonic series of the musician from c to G, the notes of the latter being opposed to the corresponding tints of the former, and the common chord occurring in each of the three cleffs associated with the primary triad of colors opposed to each other, G to yellow, E to red, and C to blue, B,D,F, corresponding in like manner to green, purple and orange, throughout the scale.

In this comparative scale the concords and discords of the two systems are singularly coincident.

If we conceive the colors of this scale blended, or mutually penetrating each other in an infinite gradation from light to shade, and harmonically divided according to the intervals of the diatonic scale, we shall form a correct idea of the perfect coincidence of the two systems.

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