Blue is one of the seven colours into which the rays of light divide themselves when refracted through a glassprism, seen in nature in the clear expanse of the heavens; the term is also applied to a dye or pigment of this hue.
The substances used as blue pigments are of very different natures, and derived from various sources; they are all compound bodies, some being natural and others artificial. They are derived almost entirely from the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. The principal blues used in painting are ultramarine, which was originally prepared from lapis-lazuli or azure-stone - a mineral found in China and other oriental countries - but, as now prepared, it is an artificial compound of china-clay, carbonate of soda, sulphur, and charcoal; Prussian or Berlin blue, which is a compound of cyanogen and iron; blue bice, prepared from carbonate of copper; indigo blue, from the indigo plant. Besides these, there are numerous other blues used in art, as blue-verditer, smalt- and cobalt-blue, from cobalt, lacmus or litmus, etc.
Before the discovery of aniline or coal-tar colours dyers chiefly depended for their blues on woad, archil, indigo, and Prussian blue, but now a series of brilliant blues are obtained from coal-tar, possessing great tinctorial power and various degrees of durability.
Blue as a colour ranges from green-blue (turquoise) through to purple-blue (indigo).
Alice blue - A very light greenish-blue colour.
Aquamarine - A bluish-green colour.
Azure - A deep blue colour reminiscent of the sky.
Aquamarine - A pale greenish-blue colour.
Bice blue - A medium blue colour
Cambridge blue - A light blue colour.
Cobalt blue - A deep blue colour with a greenish-tint. The colour of old blue glass.
Strictly speaking, a decoy is either a tame or artificial duck, so placed as to lure wild ducks within gunshot range. The term is widely applied to any means by which a person or animal is lured into a trap. Research Decoy
Anatidae is the duck, geese and swan family of birds of the order Natatores. They are characterized by a thick, broad beak, high at the base, covered with a thin membranous skin and ending in a nail-like horny tip; the edges of the mandibles are cut into thin parallel ridges, or toothed; the wings are moderate; the legs placed not very far behind; the feet are four-toed and palmated; the hind toe is free, placed high on the tarsus. They feed on grass and aquatic weeds, worms, insects, molluscs and small fish. Research Anatidae
Anatinae is the duck, Wigeon, Teal and Sheldrake sub-family of birds of the family Anatidae. The members of the sub-family are distinguished by a bill of equal width throughout, or broader at the top than at the base, of about the same length as the head; short legs placed behind the middle of the body; the hind toe being without a pendent membrane; and a somewhat round tarsi. Research Anatinae
Aplacental is a term applied to those mammals in which the young are destitute of a placenta. The aplacental mammals comprise the Monotremata and Marsupialia, the two lowest orders of mammals, including the duck-mole (ornithorhynchus), the porcupine, anteater, kangaroo, etc. Research Aplacental
The Bombay Duck, (properly the Bummalo or Bummaloti) (Saurus ophiodon) is a small fish of the family Scopelidae, found in the Indian and China seas. It is a small glutinous transparentfish about the size of a smelt which is dried and then eaten. Research Bombay Duck
The canvasback (Aythya valisineria) is an American divingduck related to the pochard, but larger. The head is chestnut coloured, the back lighter, the beak long and narrow. The canvasback is a popular eating duck in America. Research Canvasback
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Decoy
