, 1888-07-17
THE L RED.
FORMERLY 1T WAS THE CENTER
OF MANY SUGGESTIONS.

Curious Methods In Ancient Medical Prac-
tice-ScarIet for the smaIlpoI-sup-
p sod Soothing Effects OF Red-Charm
for Sore Throats-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 oven now a child, on
being given u cake Of red and one of blue
paint, would instinctively invest his girl
with a blue frock and his boy with q red
coat. 1t Is true that. aver now, girl
children arc more frequently dressed in
blue and boys in red, but this may have
It's 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 the center of many
interesting superstitions, most Of them
probably now extinct. There was an old
belief that medicinal substances bore Inn.
pressed upon their external surfaces, by
planetary Influences. the virtues which
they possessed. The connection between
the properties of substances and their
color was also q time honored opinion.
White was supposed to have refrigerant
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. Red flowers
we're given for maladies affecting the san
guifcrous system, yellow for those of the
hillary secretion, and so on. Red was
supposed to have a peculiarly healing eff
feet on smallpox, to the cure of which it
was applied, both externally and in
~ternally.
But scarlet is eficacious In other dis.
eases besides smallpox. In various parts
of tho West midas 1t is believed that a
strip of scarlet cloth, however narrow,
worn around the neck will keep off whoop-
ing cough. In the west of Scotland 1t is,
or was, common to wrap red flannel round
the Threats of children for the same rea-
son, and the virtue, we are told, lay not
in the flannel. but in the color. Thu VIC
Tins of scarlet fever were also sharers in
the benefits of red. Within the present
century there were exposed for sale in a
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
forth in a passage which we take from
the Aubrey MSS, In the British Museum:
Sir William Dugdale told me that he
finds that the art of painting in glasse
came first into England in King Johns
time. The curious Oriental reds, yellows,
blues and green's in glasse painting,
especially when the sun shines, doe much
refreshe spirits. After this manner did
DIR. r. revive the spirits of q poor dis
tracted gentleman; for whereas his former
physicians shut up his windows and kept
him In utter d~nrknesse, he did open his
window Lids, and let in the light and
filed his windows with glasse of curious
tinctures, which the distempered person
could alwaies be looking on, and 1t did
conduce to the quieting of his disturbed
spirits"
The belief that red colors were useful
in sickness was probably connected with
a N equally widespread belief that they
were obnoxious to evil spirits. TO the
present day In China people wear red cloth
in the pocket and braid their children's
hair with red silk to keep them from the
evil eye. At the death of New Zealander
red was employed as 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 its destination 1t
was painted red before it was abandoned.
In ancient England sore throats were
cured by wearing a charm which was tied
round the neck in a red rag, and to pre-
vent nose bleeding it was customary to
wear a skein OF scarlet silk round the
neck tied with nine knots In front. If
the patient was a man, the silk had to be
put on and the knots tied by a woman; If
the patient was a woman, by a man. In
Aberdeenshire no notable housewife
would urn 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 a piece of scarlet worsted
tied round the tail.
All over England and Wales, and, to a
lesser degree, in Scotland, there existed
till recent-very recent-times 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
ilizatlon, it is not easy to determine. but
in fashionable circles this prejudice has
not only disappeared, but has been re.
placed by an enthusiastic. admiration for
the former despised color. Possibly, in
some remote parts of the country, the
term carrots" may still be 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 enviable shade
curling back from their ivory temples
-. H. G." in Home Journal.
Pen Picture of Gath.
Mr. Towocapd 10 not IN yaora old Int