Emerald green

“ There is every conceivable green, or rather of hues, ranging from pale yellow through all greens into cobalt; and “as the wind stirs the leaves, and sweeps the lights and shadows over hill and glen, all is ever-changing, iridescent, like a peacock’s tail; till the whole island, from peak to shore, seems some glorious jewel—an emerald, with tints of sapphire and topaz, hanging between blue sea and white surf below, and blue sky and white cloud above.” ”

“ The emerald-green, for instance, will often fling out rays of its two constituent primary colours, at one time being blue-green, at another gold-green, while in certain lights all colour vanishes, and a velvet-black is presented to the eye. The ruby feathers of several birds become orange under certain lights, and darken to a crimson-black at other times. ”

“ These beautiful stones exhibit the physical, characteristics of emeralds with the exception of the color, in which they differ very perceptibly. But to appreciate fully the difference in hue we must compare the two gems. Then the lively green of the beryl fades away before the overpowering hue of the emerald, whose rich prismatic green may be taken as the purest type of that color known to the chemist or the painter. ”

“ The herbage being thus cropped as it springs, that first tender emerald green of the season, which would otherwise have lasted little more than a fortnight, is prolonged in the pastures and meadows for many weeks: while they are farther enlivened by the multitude of lambs bleating and skipping about. These sportive creatures, as they gather strength, are turned out upon the open mountains, and with their slender limbs, their snow-white colour, and their wild and light motions, beautifully accord or contrast with the rocks and lawns, upon which they must now begin to seek their food. ”

“ Those specimens which are hidden in the box or in the hollows of rotten stumps are, almost without exception, dull, very dark brownish olive, while those on the Bromelias assume exactly the sombre dull green of its leaves. Lastly, those which sit in the light, exposed places, no matter if upon a leaf, on a white stone, or upon a board, are emerald-green, especially beautiful on hot, sunny days;–and they are not always averse to the full glare of the sun. ”

“ The green tourmaline, when it approaches the emerald in hue, is of equal value. The green zircon and the green spinel would be far superior to the emerald in brilliancy, and therefore of greater value to the amateur. The chrome-green garnet of Hungary and the emerald-green garnet of Siberia would command a high price, if of pure color, as they surpass the glucina emerald in eclat and are moreover exceedingly rare. The peridot may assume the exact hue of the Granada emerald. The glass imitations are almost fac-similes in hue, and [Pg 327] are far superior in brilliancy to the mineral itself ”

“ Around are vari-colored trees and shrubs, and these objects and conditions all combine to produce a mystic revelation of color gradations and harmonies, from emerald green and jade to the deepest amethystine or ultra-marine. When the wind slightly stirs the surface and these dancing ripples catch the sunbeams, one by one, in changeful and irregular measure, the eyes are dazzled with iridescences and living color-changes covering hundreds of acres, thousands of them, as exquisite, glorious and dazzling as revealed in the most perfect peacock's tail-feathers, or humming-bird's throat. ”

“ It is distinguished from all other gems by its color, which is a pure unmixed green, which varies in intensity from the palest possible tinge, to a full and pure body of color, than which nothing can be more beautiful. After beholding the dazzling splendor of the preceding gems, exquisite as they are in beauty and brilliancy, with what quiet pleasure does the sight turn to, and dwell upon the refreshing green of the emerald, calling up in the mind the full verdure of spring, with all the delightful associations connected with the youth of the year, the spring of life! ”

“ By the action of the atmosphere on the arsenic it contains, arseniuretted hydrogen is formed—an extremely poisonous gas, very small quantities of which are sufficient to cause serious illness in the case of susceptible people. In spite of its poisonous nature, emerald green is still largely used. All possible shades of green can be produced from it, yellowish-green or pale green, by admixtures of yellow pigments, such as chrome yellow, or white pigments, such as barytes or white lead. Many qualities of green known as palette green, Basle green, etc., are generally composed of such mixtures. ”

“ If the tint of these substitutes is right and they are sold for what they are, there is no reason why they should not be used in place of the real article, over which they have the advantage of not being poisonous, which is a great disadvantage of the genuine emerald green. Although one authority disputes this point, certainly the poisonous action of emerald green varies very considerably with different individuals. The genuine emerald green may be distinguished from the spurious by being perfectly soluble in acids and alkalies, which the imitations are not ”

“ About the most dangerous imitation of the emerald that is ever seen in the trade is the triplet that has a top and a back made of true but pale beryl (the same mineral as emerald, but not of the right color) and a thin slice of deep emerald green glass laid between. This slice of glass is usually placed behind the girdle so that a file will not find any point of attack. The specific gravity of the triplet is practically that of emerald, its color is often very good, and it is doubly refracting. It is thus a dangerous imitation. ”

“ In order to obtain the desired deep shade of emerald green it is necessary to use very dilute solutions; from strong solutions the precipitate is instantaneously produced, in which case it is impossible to obtain large crystals. ”

“ The stubble stood up like thin straight flames from a soil that showed wine-coloured, and the green of leaf and pasture was turned by the warmth of the light to that tender but brilliantly vivid emerald to which it wakes in the gleam of a lantern at night. All colour was intensified, though all was suffused with the triumphant rose, which steeped sky and air and earth till they seemed infused with some impalpable wine; and the procession moved through an atmosphere full of refractions and bright edges afloat in the tender glow. ”

“ Now to give the same dilution of white to the complementary that the emerald green has, we must take away from the emerald green all the white mixed with it, and add that quantity to the complementary. ”

“ The colors named below, except chrome-yellow and emerald-green, are among those that when diluted will afford satisfactory contrasts among themselves and with their full colors and are recommended for use in coloring original maps.
Other pigments spread better than cerulean blue and emerald-green, but the exceptional purity of color of these two seems to warrant their use. ”

“ Emerald Green
Requires nearly the same treatment as vermilion, with a little more care in washing in a second time, since that colour is easily displaced by the second time going over it, which would give it an uneven appearance. The beauty of illuminated drawing is greatly increased by the solid and even appearance of the colours. If used faintly, it may be shaded and ornamented with cobalt; if used intensely, Hooker's green may be more effective; mixed with a little cobalt, it forms a bluish green, frequently introduced in drapery in the old missals. ”

“ Green is the grass of the earth, the trees and plants, and even the ocean waves turn green when they come kissing the shore. But why should I waste words in praising a colour whose superiority is acknowledged by everyone who is capable of judging its beauty? Has not her gracious majesty, the queen herself, shown the superiority of her taste by choosing the emerald as the jewel of her heart, and adorning her person with green as the true expression of her excellent qualities? ”

“ The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz, sparkle in its plumage, which it never defiles with the dust of the earth; and scarcely even deigns to touch the green turf for a moment. It is always on the wing, fluttering from flower to flower, and possesses their freshness as well as their brilliancy—it lives on their nectar, and only inhabits those climates where flowers never cease to bloom.
“It is in the warmest regions of the New World, that all the species known of these birds are found; for those which advance in summer to the temperate zones, only remain there a short time. ”

“ The feeling did not leave her through the day, and she wandered out into the woods that lay above the house, up to the pine grove, which was her favourite retreat; where, through the tall, straight stems, the sun quivered in amber streaks, and changed the moss from palest azure green to deepest emerald, or from flaming yellow to glowing crimson-brown. ”

“ Tint white lead with medium chrome yellow, emerald green and a touch of Prussian blue.
Egyptian Green. Add two parts of raw umber and one part of lemon chrome yellow to white lead. Give the green tone to it by means of a little Prussian blue.
Elephant Green. A dark green, obtained by adding a little emerald green to black.
Emerald Green. This beautiful, bright green cannot be successfully imitated. It must not be mixed with ultramarine. The pigment is a great favorite with some painters, while others never use it. ”

“ Out of juicy meadows green as emerald, enamelled with every kind of flower, shall grow our golden orange-trees, blossoming and fruiting together as now they do. There shall be no mosquitoes, or gnats, or black-flies, or snakes ”

“ The emerald is a pretious stone or gemine of so excellent a viridity or spring-colour as that if a man shall look upon an emerald by a pleasant green meadow, it will be more amiable than the meadow, and overcome the meadow’s glorie by the glorie of that spring of viriditie which it hath in itself. ”

“ With it may be coupled Cadmium Orange, a colour equally brilliant and stable, and equally without rankness or harshness, but of a true orange hue, admirably adapted for sunsets and the like. Last of all the fresh pigments of whose thorough durability there is no doubt, comes the splendid Viridian, a green nothing but fire will change, and no mixture of blue and yellow will afford. Clear, bright, and transparent as the emerald, it rivals velvet in [43] its soft gorgeous richness. With this and Aureolin a series of beautiful foliage tints may be formed, sparkling with sunshine, as it were. ”

“ A precipitate of dull green colour is formed. This consists of copper arsenite. After three to four hours the remaining one-third of the arsenic solution is added; the precipitate then changes into the double salt of which emerald green consists. [Pg 246]
The use of such dilute solutions as are given in these directions is essential when a product of particularly good colour is required. Emerald green is a crystalline substance which is deeper in colour in proportion to the size of its crystals. Large crystals can only be formed from very dilute solutions ”

“ A beautiful emerald green solution is obtained, which must be a little con­centrated by evaporation and then set aside in a dark room for use. The paper is floated for ten (?) minutes upon the green solution of ferric oxalate, to which has been added a little oxalate of ammonia and hung up to dry in the dark. ”

“ In England the emerald-green kind is probably the commonest, and I have seen it also in the woods in France and Belgium, in far-away Massachusetts, and on the banks of the Niagara River. The vast plains of the Dakotas are inhabited by a black-and-white kind which I have not seen elsewhere, and California rejoices in a lovely white-and-gold species which also appears to be unique. ”

“ Raw umber is very durable in both water and oil, and does not injure other pigments when mixed with them. The same may be said of yellow ochre, a natural-colored clay, which does not lose its color when mixed with lime, and hence it is well adapted for distemper painting. Mixed greens are not so durable as those direct from copper, arsenic, etc., which are, however, injurious to health. Emerald green made of verdigris and a solution of arsenious acid, and Scheele's green and Vienna green, arsenites of copper, are very poisonous. ”

“ When the summer air agitates the smooth bosom of a broad green meadow field, you will see these little random arrows glancing along the emerald surface, cutting with barbed wings through the tossing, bloom-capped waves, thence ricochetting high into the bright air to whirl and fall again as swiftly as before. ”

“ This plant, like the true cavern-mosses, is emerald-green, and develops into root, stem, and leaf. The dainty fern-like leaves or fronds are of the very simplest organization, and a slender, threadlike stem rises from the apex, bearing upon its summit a valvular case or capsule which contains the reproductive cells or sporules. The root-hairs which give out the light appear like the tangled meshes of a spider's web ”

“ The white in the emerald green can be found by treating the whole of the red as going to form the white; we then have from (1) —
Deducting these from (2) , we find that the colour of emerald green, less the white light, is 20·6 of green mixed with 1 of violet. To find the proper dilution of the complementary colour we must add the above proportions of the three colours, and as [Pg 176] our final result we find the complementary colour, of equal impurity, is a mixture of—
The slits may be set at these apertures and a colour patch thrown on the screen, and we shall find it of a delicate pink. ”

“ Green sapphire seldom even approaches emerald in fineness of color. When it remotely suggests emerald it is called "Oriental" emerald to denote that it is a corundum gem. Most green sapphires are of too blue a green to resemble emerald. Some are really "Oriental" aquamarines. In some cases the green of the green sapphire is due to the presence, within the cut stone, of both blue and yellow portions, the light from which, being blended by its reflection within the stone, emerges as green as seen by the unaided eye, which cannot analyze colors. ”