The Snowflake herald., 1919-08-08
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION or SURFACES.
Crude bit Effective Processes Errley
81 by the Egyptians ard Greeks ef
p1lhys Day-esesh prBden4ty
MaterpFeefee the Ark


the relative time Of aFTfvaI of the
chicken or the egg. II was invented
thcnGh, and Ii serves both purposes
equally; 20 whether IL IL an offspring
Of mother necessity or an adopted son
ef beauty remains forever q disputed
question.
The Erst men, covering under the
fierce and glaring SIMS Of the biblical
countries. Constructed rude huts Of
wood to shelter them The perishable
nature of these structures caused rapid
decay. and it ls probable that the oc-
cupants, seeking some artificial means
Of preservation, hit upon the pigments
Of the earth In their search Ii Is per
haps natural TO suppose that IL was
the Instinct Of preservation that led
men TO the search, although the giories
of the sunsets ard the beauties of the
rainbow may have created q desire 20
initiate those wonders In their own
dwellings.
The earliest record OF the applica-
ton Of a preservative to wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch was
triumph Of preservation whatever IL
lacked as thing Of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings first
comes to light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre-
sentations 81 hunting scenes and of
combat These were done in red and
the method followed vas to paint the
scene On the bricks at the time Of
manufacture. assuring permanence by
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting 50 much as II was the
earliest manifestation Of our own IA
mfliar kalsomining
The first Hebrew 10 mention paint
ing fs Moses. In the thirry-thlrd chap
ter Of the book Of Numbers he In
structs the Tgraelites, when ye have
passed over the Jordan into the land
Of Canaan then shall ye drive out ali
the inhabitants Of the land from be-
fore ron and destroy all their pic
lures. !"
At later periods the Jews adopted
many customs Of tire peoples who suc-
cesslvely obtained power over them
and In the apocryphaI book Of the
Maccabees ls found this aIlusion TO
the art Of decorating, For as the mas
ter builder Of new house must care
for the whole building but he that
undertaketh to set 1t ont and paint 1t,
must seek ont things for the adorning
thereof
Although Homer gives credit TO a
Greek for the discovery Of paint, the
illusions To 1t In the books Of Moses,
the painted mummy cases Of the Egyp-
fians and the decorated walls Of Baby
Ion and Thebes fix It's origin at
period long antecedent to the Grecian
era. The walls Of Thebes were paint
ed 1900 years before the coming of
Christ and 800 years before "'Omer
gnote his bloomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized the value Of
paint as preservative and made use
of something akin TO 1t on their ships.
Pliny writes Of the mode Of boiling
wax and painting ships with 1t, after
which. be continues, neither the sea,
nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
the wood thus protected"
The Romans, being essentially
varlike people, never brought the dec
81 alton Of buildings to the high plane
1t had reached with the Greeks For
all that the ruins of Pompeii show
many structures whose mural decora-
tions are In fair shape today. The
colors used were glaring A black
background was the usual one and the
combinations worked thereon red, yel-
low and blue.
In the early Christian era the use Of
nnosalcs for churches somewhat sup
planted mural painting. Still, during
the reign Of Jusfinian the Church Of
Saint Sophia was built at Constantine
pie and It's walls were adorned with
paintings
In modern times the uses Of paint
have come to be as numerous as It's
myriad shades and tints. Paint ID
unique in that It's name las 70 syno-
nym and for II there IL no substitute
material. Bread ID the staff Of life, but
paint In the life Of the staff
No one thinks Of the exterior Of q
wooden building now except In terms
OF paint coated Interiors, TOO. from
painted walls and stained furniture
down to the lOwliest kitchen utenail.
ali receive their protective covering.
Steel, so often associated with cement
reinforcing. Is 3ainted before 1t goes
70 give solt1i;y to the manufactured
stone. The huge girders Of the sky
scrnpers are daubed an ugly but efl-
cient rel underneath the surface coat
OF black. Perhaps the best example
OF the value Of paint on steel Is found
in the venerable Brooklyn bridge, on
which q gang Of painters Is kept go
ing continually. Ii Is scarce possible
to think OF single manufactured ar
ticle which does not meet paint some
where In ths course Of its construc-
tion 50 has paint grown into the
very marrow 6f our lives.