Page:A color notation (Munsell).djvu/123

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Primary Colors.—See Colors, primary.

Pure Color.—A color produced by homogeneous light. Any very brilliant or decided color.

Purple.—A color formed by the mixture of blue and red, including the violet of the spectrum above wave length 0.417, which is nearly a violet blue, and extending to, but not including, crimson.

Rainbow.—A bow or an arc of a circle, consisting of the prismatic colors, formed by the refraction and the reflection of rays of light from drops of rain or vapor, appearing in the part of-the heavens opposite to the sun.

Red.—A color more or less resembling that of blood, or the lower end of the spectrum. Red is one of the most general color names, and embraces colors ranging in hue from aniline to scarlet iodide of mercury and red lead. A red yellower than vermilion is called scarlet. One much more crimson is called crimson red. A very dark red, if pure or crimson, is called maroon; if brownish, chestnut or chocolate. A pale red—that is, one of low chroma and high luminosity—is called a pink, ranging from rose pink or pale crimson to salmon pink or pale scarlet.

Venetian Red.—An important pigment used by artists, somewhat darker than brick red in color, and very permanent.

Retina.—The innermost and chiefly nervous coat of the posterior part of the eyeball.

Saturation, of colors.—In optics the degree of admixture with white, the saturation diminishing as the amount of white is increased. In other words, the highest degree of saturation belongs to a given color when in the state of greatest purity.