The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-05
THE COLOR RED.
FORMERLY IT WAS THE CsN'eh
or MANY sUpeaSTITIoNs.
Curious Methods In Ancient Medicsi rrse-
tice-scariet for the smaiipox-s"p-
posed Soothing Effects Of Red-Charm
G,r Sore Throats-Red Hair.

ticc-Srzriet for the SmahP"A
posed Soothing Effects Of Red-Charm
far Sore Throats-Red Hair.
7, 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
being given cake " red ana ono Oh oiue
naint. would mstinetively invest ms girl
with n blue frock and his boy with RED
coat IL is true that. even now, BHi
children are more frequently dressed la
blue and boys in red. but this may nave
its origin in the fact that blue Is the color
of In. virgin. to whom, in tho Roman
Catholic church, all girls are dedicated.
Tho color red was the center OF many
interesting supcrstiti0ns, most OF them
probably now extinct There was an old
belief that medicinal substances bore i'm
messed upon their external surfaces, by
planetary influences the virtues which
fhey possessed The connection between
thu properties Of substances ana their
color was also time honorcd opinion
White was supposed TO have reErigerant
and red heating qualities, and hence from
their colors hot and cold properties were
allotted to different medicines This led
TO curious errors in practice. He'd flowers
we're given for maladies affecting tho san
gulcr0us system. yellow for those of the
hillary secretion, and so on. Red was
supposed to have a peculiarly healing ei
feet on smallpox, to the cure OF which 1t
was applied, both externally and in
ternally.
But scarlet IS eiiieacious In other dis
eases besides smallpox In various parts
OF the West lndias it IS believed that a
strip Of scarlet cloth. however narrow,
worn around the neck will keep oil whoop-
ing cough IN the west Of Scotland it is,
or was. common To wrap red flannel round
the Threats Of children Tor the same rea-
son. and the virtue. We are told, lay not
in the flannel but in the color. The sic
inns of scarlet fever were also sharers in
the benefits of red Within tho present
century there were exposed for sale IN
shop in Fleet street tongues Of red cloth,
be worn round the throat by patients
cted with that malady The soothing
It's Of red. or perhaps rather OF beau
titul color generally, axe quantity set
forth in d passage which We take from
the Aubrey Mss in the British Museum.
"Sir William DuCdale told me that 10
finds that the art of painting IN glasse
came FIRST into England IN King Johns
time The curious Oriental reds, yellowS.
blues and greens in glasso painting.
especially when the sun shines, doe much
refreshc spirits. After this manner did
Dr. K revive the spirits of poor dis
tractcd Itleman for whereas his former
physitiaA. shut up his windows and kept
him in utter darkness he did open hi5
window hdds, and let in the light and
filled his windows with glasse Of curious
tinctures, which the distempered person
could alyaies be looking on. and II dld
conduce to the quoting Of his disturbed
spirits"
The belief that red colors We're useful
in sickness was probably connected with
an equally widespread bollcf that they
were obnoxious To evil spirits. To the
present day in China people wear red cloth
in the pocket and braid their ehiidrenS
hair with red sill, - lsesP the'a from the
ON o,c- At the death Of a New Zeaiander
red was employed ~ literally a. possible.
probably for the Same reason. The house
Of the deceased was painted red Wher
ever the corpse was rested on il, 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
it was taken ashore at its destination IL
was painted red before it was abandoned
In ancient England sore Threats ygere
cured by wearing Il charm which was tied
round the neck IN red rag and u pre-
vent nose bleeding il was customary To
wear Il skein oI scarlet silk round the
neck tied with nine knots IN front. Ii
the patient was u man, the silk had TO be
put on and the knots tied by woman, II
the patient was woman, by u man. In
Aberdeenshire no notable housewife
would turn out her cows to grass for tho
first time In the season with any cont
dence unless they were fortified against
the evil eye ~ n piece Of scarlet worsted
tied round the tail
All over England and Wales and. to a
lesser degree, IN Scotland, there existed
till receut--very raCcnt-timc. rooted
prejudice against people with red hair
Now. whether from the influence OF tho
teaching Of Mr. Burnc Jones and Mr.
Walter Crane. OF from the advance Of civ
iliZation, it is not easy to determine, but
in fashionable circles this prejudice has
not only disappeared, but has been re.
placed b. an enthusiastic admiration for
the former despised color. Possibly. ia
some remote parts of the country, the
term carrots" may sim DO one Of re-
proach. but it IS certain that the heroines
OF at least half Of the novels Of the day
rejoice in locks Of this now cnviable shade
curling back from their ivory temples
j ii q in Home Journal.