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.Keen lemon-yellow hurts the eye in timeas a prolonged and shrill trumpet-note the ear, and the gazerturns away to seek relief in blue or green.But to a more sensitive soul the effect of colours is deeper andintensely moving.And so we come to the second main result oflooking at colours: THEIR PSYCHIC EFFECT.They produce acorresponding spiritual vibration, and it is only as a steptowards this spiritual vibration that the elementary physicalimpression is of importance.Whether the psychic effect of colour is a direct one, as theselast few lines imply, or whether it is the outcome ofassociation, is perhaps open to question.The soul being one withthe body, the former may well experience a psychic shock, causedby association acting on the latter.For example, red may cause asensation analogous to that caused by flame, because red is thecolour of flame.A warm red will prove exciting, another shade ofred will cause pain or disgust through association with runningblood.In these cases colour awakens a corresponding physicalsensation, which undoubtedly works upon the soul.If this were always the case, it would be easy to define byassociation the effects of colour upon other senses than that of sight.One might say that keen yellow looks sour, because itrecalls the taste of a lemon.But such definitions are not universally possible.There are manyexamples of colour working which refuse to be so classified.ADresden doctor relates of one of his patients, whom he designatesas an "exceptionally sensitive person," that he could not eat acertain sauce without tasting "blue," i.e.without experiencing afeeling of seeing a blue color.[Footnote: Dr.Freudenberg."Spaltung der Personlichkeit" (Ubersinnliche Welt.1908.No.2,p.64-65).The author also discusses the hearing of colour, andsays that here also no rules can be laid down.But cf.L.Sabanejeff in "Musik," Moscow, 1911, No.9, where the imminentpossibility of laying down a law is clearly hinted at.] It wouldbe possible to suggest, by way of explanation of this, that inhighly sensitive people, the way to the soul is so direct and thesoul itself so impressionable, that any impression of tastecommunicates itself immediately to the soul, and thence to theother organs of sense (in this case, the eyes).This would implyan echo or reverberation, such as occurs sometimes in musicalinstruments which, without being touched, sound in harmony withsome other instrument struck at the moment.But not only with taste has sight been known to work in harmony.Many colours have been described as rough or sticky, others assmooth and uniform, so that one feels inclined to stroke them(e.g., dark ultramarine, chromic oxide green, and rose madder).Equally the distinction between warm and cold colours belongs tothis connection.Some colours appear soft (rose madder), othershard (cobalt green, blue-green oxide), so that even fresh fromthe tube they seem to be dry.The expression "scented colours" is frequently met with.Andfinally the sound of colours is so definite that it would be hardto find anyone who would try to express bright yellow in the bassnotes, or dark lake in the treble.[Footnote: Much theory and practice have been devoted to thisquestion.People have sought to paint in counterpoint.Alsounmusical children have been successfully helped to play thepiano by quoting a parallel in colour (e.g., of flowers).Onthese lines Frau A.Sacharjin-Unkowsky has worked for severalyears and has evolved a method of "so describing sounds bynatural colours, and colours by natural sounds, that colour couldbe heard and sound seen." The system has proved successful forseveral years both in the inventor's own school and theConservatoire at St.Petersburg.Finally Scriabin, on morespiritual lines, has paralleled sound and colours in a chart notunlike that of Frau Unkowsky.In "Prometheus" he has givenconvincing proof of his theories.(His chart appeared in "Musik,"Moscow, 1911, No.9.)][Footnote: The converse question, i.e.the colour of sound, wastouched upon by Mallarme and systematized by his disciple ReneGhil, whose book, Traite du Verbe, gives the rules for"l'instrumentation verbale."--M.T.H.S.] The explanation by association will not suffice us in many, andthe most important cases.Those who have heard of chromotherapywill know that coloured light can exercise very definiteinfluences on the whole body.Attempts have been made withdifferent colours in the treatment of various nervous ailments
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