Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-07-15
THE COLOR RED.
FORMERLY IT WAS THE CENTER
OF MANY SUGGESTIONS.

eAcs-scariet for the smallpox
posed Soothing EEecaa of Ked-CiAarzn
! for Sore Ti,roats-Red Hair.
| 1t is said that in ages long ago, in the
/ INFANCY OF art, in was customary, in at
tempting portraiture, always to paint the
| garments of the male red and Of the fe-
male blue; and that even now child, on
| beng given {. cake Of red and one OF blue
paint, would instinctively invest his girl
with a blue frock and his boy with a red
| coat. 1t is true that. even now, girl
children are moro frequently dressed in
blue and boys in red, but this may have
Its origin in the fact that blue is the color
OF the virgin, to whom. in the Roman
catholic church. all girls are Dedicated.
The color red was thu center Of many
interesting superstitions, most OF them
probably now extinct. There was an old
belief that medicinal substances bore i'm
pressed upon their external surfaces. by
planetary influences. tho virtues which
| they possessed The connection between
the properties of substances and their
color was also a time honored opinion.
White was supposed TO hare refrigcrant
ana red heating qualities, and hence from
their colors hot ana coid properties were
allotted to different medicines. This led
TO curious errors in practice. Red flowers
were given for 1aalat.ies affecting the san
guiferous system, yellow for these Of the
hillary secretion, and SO on. Red was
supposed to have peculiarly healing ef-
feet on smallpox, to the euro Of which it
was applied, both externally and IN
ternauy.
But scarlet is eficacious in other dis.
eases besides smallpox In various parts
OF the West Indias It is believed that q
strip OF scarlet cloth, however narrow,
worn around the neck viii keep off whoop-
ing cough. In the west of Scotland it is.
or was, common to wrap red flannel round
the throats of children fer the same rea-
son. and the virtue, We are told, lay not
IL the flannel, but in the color. The vic
tins OF scarlet fever were also sharers in
the benefits Of red. Within the present
century there were exposed for sale in q
shop in Fleet street tongues of red cloth,
be worn round the throat by patients
cted with that malady. The soothing
cts of red, or perhaps rather of beau
tiful color generally. are quantity set
the Aubrey KISS in the hiI British ' Museum cum:
Sir William Dugdale told nae that he
finds that the art Of painting in glasse
came first into England in King Johns
time. The curious Oriental reds, Fellows,
blues and green's in glasse painting,
especially when the sun shines, doe much
reireshc spirits after this manner did
DR.. K. revive the spirits of poor dis
tracted gentleman; for whereas his former
physitians shut up his windows and kept
aim in utter darknesse, he did open his
window lids, and let in the light and
filled his windows with glssse of curious
tinctures. which the distenpered person
could alwaies be looking OF, ard it did
corduce to the quoting OF his disturbed
Spirits
The belief that red colors were useful
in sickness was probably connected with
an equally widespread belief that they
were obnoxious 10 evil spirits. To the
present day in China people wear red cloth
in the pocket and braid their childrea's
hair with red sill, to keep them from the
evil eye. AT the death CT a New Zeaiander
red was employed AZ literally as possible,
probably for the same reason. The house
OF the deceased was painted red. Wher-
ever the corpse was rested on its last jour
ney, some rock, or stone. or tree which
happened to be near was painted red, and
if the body was conveyed by water, when
1t was taken ashore at it's destination it
was painted red before it was abandoned.
In ancient England sore threats were
cured by wearing o charm which was tied
round the neck il a red rag, and TO pre-
vent nose bleeding it was customary to
wear skein of scarlet silk round the
neck tied with nine knots i'll front. If
the patient was man, the silk had to be-
put Oh and the knots tied by q woman; if
the patient was woman, by man. In
Aberdeenshire no notable housewife
would turn out her COWS to grass for the
FIRST time in the season with any conf
dence unless they were fortified against
the evil eye by piece Of scarlet worsted
tied round the tail
Ali over England and Wales, and, 20
lesser degree, in Scotland, there existed
till reccnt-very recent-siines a rooted
prejudice against people with red hair
Now, whether from the influence of the
teaching OF Mr.. Burne Jones and Mr..
Walter Crane, or from the advance Of civ
iliZation, it is not easy to determine. bat
in fashionable circles this prejudice has
not only disappeared. but has been re-
placed by an enthusiastic admiration for
tho former despised color. Possibly, in
some remote Parts of the country, the
term carrots may still be one of re-
preach, but It is certain that the heroines
OF at least half of the novels of the day
rejoice in locks Of this now enviablc shade
curling back from their ivory temples
-. II. G. in Home journal.