PURPLE. A color located in the spec trum between crimson and violet. It is poeti cally termed the royal color. The ancients at tributed the discovery of purple to the Phoeni cians. The story of its having been discovered by a dog biting a purple-fish, and thus staining his mouth, is well-known. The purple-fish was found not only on the Phoenician coasts, but In all other parts of the Mediterranean, so that the use of it in dyeing came to be common with other nations. The modern discovery of pur ple colors from coal-tar makes an important the history of the dye. Painters in and ry water-colors produce various shades of purple by mixing certain red and blue pigments. For work in oil, French ultramarine, often called French blue, is mixed with vermilion or some madder red (madder carmine is best), or one of these reds with cobalt blue if a pale purple is wanted. For permanent purples in
water-colors the same blues are used; but one of the madder reds, not vermilion, should be mixed with them. A much richer purple than any of the above mixtures will give is pro duced by Prussian blue and one of the lakes from cochineal — namely, carmine or crimson lake — but it is not permanent. This purple, as well as that obtained by mixing Indian red with indigo, also fugitive, was much used by water-color painters in past years. Purple madder is the only simple purple pigment avail able for the artist which is durable, and it is unfortunately costly. All purples are changed to neutral and gray tints by the addition of any yellow pigment. For house-painting maroon lake with a little French blue gives a useful pur ple. See DYES; PURPLE Sum.