complement of red; because red and yellow
create orange, orange is the complement of
blue; because red and blue create violet,
violet is the complement of yellow. The eye
itself can perform these changes; look upon
a blue and a yellow, and in a little while both
will appear to be green. Again, take a
square coloured red, and observe it. Take
also a square coloured blue, and observe
it. Place them side by side. The red square
where it is near the blue will have a yellower
tinge than the rest; and into the blue on the
other border some little shade of green will
enter. That is because every colour tends to
suggest its opposite (or complement) around
its borders, and, as we have explained, the
opposite of red is green the opposite of blue,
orange.

It is also to be remembered that the eye,
fatigued with looking at one colour, is
disposed to receive the impression of its
complement. Let us suppose, for example, that
a lady in a draper's shop is looking at red
stuffs; and, after having seen five or six pieces,
begins to complain of the bad colour of those
subsequently shown to her. The colour is
not bad; but her eye, weary of red, no longer
receives the impression of it vividly, or as a
source of pleasure. Let the prudent tradesman
not allow ten or eleven red stuffs to be
looked at in succession; but, after about the
fifth, contrive to submit for inspection something
green. A very good green it is sure to
seem if it be only of a tolerable colour; and,
after dwelling on it for a little time, the
customer may go on looking at the reds, and will
be sure to see them to the best advantage.

Accustomed to a little application of these
principles, and knowing pretty well how
colours stand related to each other, any
person may avoid gross errors of taste in house-
furnishing, in dressing, in the arrangement of
a nosegay, and in all such matters. The main
relations of colour to be borne in mind are
these: Green is the opposite, and complement,
to red; green, therefore, reddens adjacent
hues, and red adds a green tinge to
them; but green and red set off each other
to the best advantage when placed side by
side—the green looking greener, the red
redder,—and this is, of course, most thoroughly:
the effect when the two colours are alike
in depth of tone. What green is to red,
yellow is to violet, and blue to orange. In the
same way it may be said that the yellow
tints of given suggest their complements and
opposites, the violet-reds; the yellow-oranges
contrast with violet-blues, and the orange-reds
with the blue-greens.

Thus the pink of the complexion is brought
out by a green setting in dress or bonnet; and
any lady who has a fair complexion, that
admits of having its rose tint a little heightened,
may make effective use of the green
colour, but it should be a delicate green, since
it is of importance to preserve harmony of
tone. When there is in the face a tint of
orange mixed with brown, a brick-red hue
will result from the use of green; if any
green at all be used in such a case it should
be dark.

But for the orange complexion of a brunette
there is no colour superior to yellow. This
imparts violet to a fair skin, and injures its
effect. A skin more yellow than orange has
its yellow neutralised by the suggestion of
the complement, and a dull white effect
imparted. The orange skin, however, has the
yellow neutralised and the red left; so that
the freshness of complexion is increased in
black-haired beauties.

As the complement of violet is yellow,
which no lady desires to see added to the
colour of her skin, it follows that violet is
only suitable for dress when it is very deep
in tone, and worn by those who wish to have
the complexion whitened by contrast.

Blue imparts orange, which enriches white
complexions and light flesh tints; it also of
course improves the yellow hair of blondes.
Blue, therefore, is the standard colour for a
blonde, as yellow is for a brunette. But the
brunette who has already too much orange
in her face must avoid setting it in blue.

Orange suits nobody. It whitens a brunette,
but that is scarcely a desirable effect, and it
is ugly. Red, unless when it is of a dark
hue, to increase the effect of whiteness by
contrast of tone, is rarely suitable in any
close neighbourhood to a lady's skin, Rose-
red destroys the freshness of a good
complexion; it suggests green. For this
reason it ought not to be chosen for the
lining and hangings of the boxes of a
theatre, if ladies who frequent it are to look
well in their evening toilettes. Rose-red,
wine-red, and light crimson boxes give a
green tint to the ladies in them; if they
would rather have the best made of all
natural rose in their faces, the hangings they
should wish for ought to be light green. But
they would suit best pale or fair complexions,
just as the amber hangings at the opera
house in the Haymarket used to be best
suited, and, in fact, only suited, for brunettes.
The dark crimson of the draperies adopted at
the rival house were more impartial, since
they tended by contrast to the whitening of
all faces to which they served as background.
Enough has been said now to display some
principles that may be carried into application
in a thousand ways. The painter upon
canvass knows that if he places certain colours
side by side, though they be as pure as tube
can hold, yet they may look dirty because
they spoil each other by the complements
that they suggest. He knows that in painting
from the model, wherever there is much contrast
of colour in smallcompass, he must not directly
imitate each colour that he copies with a
stroke of the same colour from his brush; he
is compelled to use false tints to get the
true ones. Upon the same plan must a lady
go to work in the compounding of a nosegay