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.
Cameo is a general name for all gems cut in relief, in contradistinction to those hollowed out, or intaglios. More particularly, a cameo is a gem composed of several different-coloured layers having a subject in relief cut upon one or more of the upper layers, an under layer of a different colour forming the ground. Eor this purpose the ancients used the onyx, sardonyx, agate, etc. The shells of various molluscs are now much used for making cameos; and they are also imitated on glass and other materials. Research Cameo
A pearl is a lustrous concretion produced by certain bivalve molluscs (muscles and oysters) and valued as a gem. Pearls consist almost entirely of nacre, which is the substance forming the inner layers of the mollusc shells. Nacre, known as mother-of-pearl, is composed primarily of aragonite crystals. The pearl is an abnormalgrowth resulting from the invasion of the body of the mollusc by a minute parasitic worm (it was previously believed to be invasion by a grain of sand or similar which caused the pearl to be produced), which cannot escape and irritates the mollusc which retaliates by coating the irritant with layer upon layer of nacreous material. Both marine and freshwater molluscs produce pearls, but the most valuable varieties originate in the pearl oyster of the Persian Gulf. The most highly prized pearls are spherical. When a pearl that has been cut from the shell presents a hemispherical surface, it is sometimes called a bouton pearl. If a solid pearl has an irregular shape, having grown over a rough object, it is known as a baroque pearl. In the jewellerytrade, pearls are commonly known as pear, bell, or drop, according to the shape. Pearl coloration varies widely, the most prized shades being white, black, rose, and cream. River pearls are produced by freshwater mussels in various parts of the world. China is the principal trader in river pearls. Natural, spherical pearls have been cultured successfully since 1920. In this process a mother-of-pearl bead, from three-quarters to nine-tenths of the diameter of the desired product, is introduced into the
pearl oyster. Over a period of years the oyster deposits layers of nacre around the bead. Cultured pearls are not easily distinguished from genuine pearls except by an expert. The technique of producing spherical cultured pearls was developed in Japan, and the culturing of pearls is a major Japanese industry - a small bead of mother of pearl being inserted into the oyster which grows the pearl around the bead. Artificial pearls, in contrast to cultured pearls, are entirely man-made, largely of glass. Research Pearl
Troy weight is a system of weight consisting of a pound comprising twelve ounces, introduced into Europe around 1095 by the Crusaders, and first adopted at the French city of Troyes. The Troy weight is used for precious metals and gem stones. Research Troy Weight
The Purple-shaded Gem (Euchalcia variabilis) is a rare moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 33 and 38 mm found in northern and central Europe flying from May to July. Research Purple-Shaded Gem
Thomas Hood was an English poet and humorist. He was born in 1799 at London and died in 1845. During a residence at Dundee, and while only fifteen or sixteen years old, he contributed articles to a local paper and magazine. In 1821 he became sub-editor of the London Magazine, and in 1826 appeared his Whims and Oddities, which was followed by National Tales and a volume of serious poetry. From 1829 to 1837 he conducted his Comic Annual. At the same time his pen was employed on other subjects, and he published The EppingHunt, a comic poem, ridiculing Cockney sportsmen; Eugene Aram's Dream, inserted in the Gem, of which he was for a short time editor; and Tylney Hall, a novel. In 1837, on the termination of the Comic Annual, he commenced a monthly periodical entitled Hood's Own, which consisted chiefly of selections from the former work.
His health now began to fail, and with a view to its recovery he paid a visit to the Continent. While there in 1839 he published his Up the Rhine, which, based on the lines of Humphrey Clinker, was very popular. Shortly after hia return he undertook the editorship of the New Monthly Magazine, and continued it until 1843. His principal contributions to it he published separately, under the title of Whimsicalities. His last periodical, entitled Hood's Magazine, was commenced in 1844; but his health shortly afterwards completely broke down, and his death occurred in the following year. It was during his last illness that he contributed to Punch The Song of a Shirt, The Bridge of Sighs, and The Lay of a Labourer. Thomas Hood is unrivalled as a punster, and he possesses a singular power of combining the humorous with the pathetic. He had the satisfaction of knowing that the pension of 100 pounds conferred upon him on his last illness by Sir Robert Peel was to be transferred to his wife. Research Thomas Hood
Artline by Digital Research, is a program for creating illustrations, mastheads and logos for desktop publishing. With the ability to trace scanned images and seven different zoom levels ranging from 6% to 4000%, its magnifier tool in 100% view shows a screen picture dot for dot as the printed picture would appear on a 300 dots per inch laser printer. The drawing tools include rectangle, ellipse, text and symbol. The symbol selector allows a library of symbols to be loaded and viewed interactively. A sophisticated drawing tool called 'The Quill' can be used to draw straight lines and curves, whether simple, compound or joined. Points on a curve can be selected and moved. Anchor points and direction points can also be shown and curve segments copied. The Quill works with Bezier or spline curves. Text can be edited as graphic elements to produce, for example, trailing shadow effects and can also be arranged around circles and curves. File formats supported include .IMG, .PCX and TIFF. Artline generates GEM or EPS formats
which can be loaded directly into Ventura Publisher or PageMaker. A Bitstream Fontware installation kit is provided and a serif and sans seriftypeface are included with Artline. Research GEM Artline
GEM Draw Plus by Digital Research, is a freehand-drawing program that runs under the GEM/3 desktop. As with other drawing programs, GEM Draw Plus provides a desktop of tools, similar to the way the Macintosh works. You can choose elements such as lines, boxes, circles, and other polygons and text in multiple fonts, sizes, and styles when creating an image. The product can be used to create organisation charts, page borders, floor plans, logos, and other types of diagrams. GEM Draw Plus has a library of over 100 pre-drawn icons and symbols which can be incorporated. Any picture you draw can be stored in your personal picture library and used in other drawings. Because GEM offers a windowing environment, graphics can be cut and pasted between windows.
GEM Draw Plus offers a choice of colours, patterns, line widths, and type styles. The zoom feature uses arrows and scroll bars to display areas of your picture for close detailed work. A Snap command automatically returns you to the spot on the grid where you were last working. Research GEM Draw Plus
Ventura Publisher is a powerful, high-end desktop publisher that produces typographic-quality documents on the PC. It works with documents in a chapter format to effectively handle long documents such as reports and manuals, as well as shorter publications such as flyers and newsletters. Ventura's built-in text editor works with documents in word processing format. A dynamic link between the word processing file and the text in Ventura automatically reflects edits made in either file. A WYSIWYG display shows the page composition process. Ventura can crop, size, and scale graphics brought into a page. The program can produce simple graphics such as line, circle, and box drawings which can be placed around a section of a document. Document size is virtually limitless; documents can be produced with up to 128 chapters, with 300 pages each. Ventura uses the GEM Desktop graphical interface (the product comes with a runtime version of GEM). There is no need to open windows, pass data between applications, or transport graphics with a clipboard. Instead, create a frame within a document and import text or graphics from other programs.
To design a document, select a text file and attach a predesigned style sheet (or create a new one). The style sheets make it easy to create uniform, standard format for repetitive use such as monthly reports. Importing a graphics image is done the same way: create a frame and import the image. Ventura automatically scales the image to fit the frame. Images can be resized and scaled as required. One of Ventura's strong points is handling file formats and directories. To import files, work through a menu that allows choice of file type and moves it to the needed directory. The list of files used in a document is always present.
Files can be loaded from any directory, making it easy to choose files from multiple directories on multiple disks. Because of its dynamic text and graphics link and strong file-handling capabilities, the product is good for creating integrated typeset- quality publications that incorporate files from word processing, spreadsheet, and graphics programs such as a multicolumn brochure with charts imported from a graphics product and data imported from a spreadsheet. Ventura automatically generates indexes, tables of content, and lists of illustrations. Ventura has a complete set of typographic features that can be used to customise layouts. Multiple views of the page layout can be seen and enlarged to emphasise details. Ventura is a complex package and is not recommended for casual use. There are over 250 on-line help screens that speed up the learning process. Once mastered, there are a number of features that speed up the use of the program. For example, control key commands allow by passing of standard menus and quick movement around the package. Research Ventura Publisher
Andalusite is a mineral formed by the metamorphism of aluminous shales and slate. It is used in the manufacture of spark plugs and other porcelains and may serve as a gem stone if it is clear and transparent, and exhibits the optical phenomenon of pleochroism - that is the capacity to appear in different colours when viewed in different lights and from different angles. It is named from Andalusia, a province of Spain where it was first discovered. It has the formulae Al2SiO5 and a relative hardness of 8. Research Andalusite
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Cameo
