Dictionarium polygraphicum. Red.

Dictionarium Polygraphicum:
Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested.
Vol II.
London: Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, and S. Austen in St. Paul's Church Yard. MDCCXXXV.
1735
RED is one of the simple or primary colours of natural bodies, or rather of the rays of light.

The red rays are those of all others the least refrangible.

Hence, as sir Isaac Newton supposes the different degrees of refrangibility to arise from the different magnitudes of the lu minous particles, of which the rays consist; the red rays, or red light, is concluded to be that which consists of the larger particles.

Red is distinguished into three kinds; one bordering on the Blue, as columbine or dove-colour, purple or crimson; another bordering one yellow or flame-colour, and orange.

Between these extremes is a medium, partaking neither of the one nor the other, which is what we properly call red.

Acids turn black, blue, and violet into red; and red into yellow; and yellow into a very pale yellow.

Alkali's change red into violet or purple, and yellow into feuillemort or dead-leaf colour.

Terrestrial and sulphureous matters become red by extreme heat; and some at length black, as may be seen in brick, red-bole, red-chalk, slate, pumice, which, when vitrified by a burning glass, become black; lobsters become red by boiling by a moderate fire, and by a violent fire, black.

Mercury and sulphur mix'd and heated over a moderate fire, make a beautiful red, call'd artificial cinnabar.

An acid spirit, as lemon juice, being pour'd on a blue solution of turnsole, turns it into a beautiful red: alkali restores it to its original blue.

Filtrating the reddest wine takes from it all its red colour.

M. de la Hire observes, that a very luminous body, view'd through a black one, always appears red; as when the sun is seen shining through a black cloud.

He adds, that many persons, who see all the other colours perfectly well, yet have no idea of red, and only see it is black.

Some reckon seven kinds or casts of red; viz. scarlet red, crimson red, madder red, half-grain red, lively orange red, and scarlet of cochineal; but they may all be reduc'd to these three, according to the three principal drugs which produce the colours, which are vermilion, cochineal, and madder.

The fine scarlet, call'd scarlet of the Gobelins, is made of agaric water prepar'd with bran, and turn'd a little sourish, woad; and scarlet-green or vermilion; some dyers add cochineal, and others fœnugreek, brightening it with sour water, agaric, tartar, and turmeric.

Crimson red is made with four water, tartar, cochineal, mestique.

Madder red is made with madder, to which some add realgal and arsenic; others common salt, or other salts, with wheat flower; or agaric with spirit of wine with galls or turmerick.

The half grain is made with agaric or sour water, half scarlet grain, half madder, and sometimes turmeric.

As to the lively orange red, the stuff must be first lald in yellow, then in a liquor made of goats-hair, (which has been boiled several times with madder,) and now diffolv'd over the fire with certain acids, as urine, tartar, &c.

The half crimson is made of half madder, half cochineal.

The scarlet of cochineal, ot Dutch scarlet, is made with starch, tartar, and cochineal; after it has been first boil'd with alum; tartar, sal gemma, and aqua-fortis, in which tin has been dissolved.

Besides these seven reds, which are good and allowed colours, there is also a Brasil red, which is discouraged, as fading easily.

Of the seven good reds, only four have particular casts or shades; the madder red, the crimson red, the lively orange red; and the scarlet os cochineal.

The casts or shades of crimson are flesh-colour, peach-colour, carnation-rose-colour, an apple-tree flower-colour.

Those of madder are flesh-colour, onion-peel-colour, and flame-colour.

Those of the orange are the same with those of the crimson.

Scarlet, besides the shades of all the rest, has some peculiar to itself, as cherry-colour, fire-colour, &c.



RED; in painting in oil-colours, they use a red call'd a cinnabar, or vermilion; and another call'd lacca.

In limning and fresco, for a violet-red, instead of lacca, they use a natural earth found in England; for a brown-red they use oker.