The Speculations of the Past.
Ever since Newton produced the prismatic solar spectrum, the so-called science of color as applied to pigments and coloring, has been a most curious mixture of truth, error and speculation. It was supposed by Newton and Brewster that in the solar spectrum the colors were produced by the over-lapping of three sets of colored rays red, yellow and blue. The red rays at one end were supposed to overlap or mix with the yellow rays to make the orange, and on the other side of the yellow the blue rays were supposed to combine with the yellow to produce green.
Following the same theory in pigmentary colors, it has been claimed that all colors in nature may be produced by the combination of pigments in these three colors red, yellow and blue, and hence they have been called primary colors. It is still claimed by the advocates of this theory that from the three primaries red, yellow and blue the so-called secondaries orange, green and purple can be made, and that the secondaries are complementary to the primaries in pairs; the orange to the blue, the green to the red and the purple to the yellow.
By similar combinations of the secondaries it is claimed that three other colors, in themselves peculiar, and different from the first six, may be made, the orange and green forming citrines, orange and violet russets, and green and violet olives and these are called tertiaries. After having accepted this fiction as a scientific theory for so many years, it is very difficult to convince the artists and colorists that in it all there is nothing of value to any one, but such is practically a fact, because from no three pigmentary effects in red, yellow and blue can the three colors orange, green and purple of corresponding purity be produced, neither are the primary colors complementary to the secondaries as claimed nor are the so-called tertiaries new and distinct colors but simply gray spectrum colors.
Because the red, yellow and blue theory would not stand the test of scientific investigation the Young-Helmholtz theory of three other primaries red, green and violet, has been quite generally adopted by the scientists of the past generation.