52.), moreover, seems to confound the terms "white"
and "fair," between the meanings of which there is considerable
difference. A white skin is not fair, nor a fair skin white. There
is no close approach of one to the other; and indeed we never see a
white complexion, except the chalked faces in a Christmas of Easter
Pantomime, or in front of Richardson's booth at Greenwich or Charlton
Fair. A contemplation of these would tell us what the "human face
divine" would become, were we any of us truly _white-skinned_.

The skin diverges in tint from the white, in one direction towards the
yellow, and in another towards the red or pink; whilst sometimes we
witness a seeming tinge of blue,--characteristic of asphyxia, cholera,
or some other disease. We often see a mixture of red and yellow (the
yellow predominating) in persons subject to bilious complaints; and
not unfrequently a mixture of all three, forming what the painters
call a "neutral tint," and which is more commonly called "an olive
complexion."

The negro skin is black; that is, it does not separate the sun's light
into the elementary colours. When, by the admixture of the coloured
races with the negro, we find coloured skins, they _always_ tend to
the yellow, as in the various mulatto shades of the West Indies, and
especially in the Southern States of America; and the same is true of
the "half-castes" of British India, though with a distinct darkness or
blackness, which the descendant of the negro does not generally show.

Though I have, in accordance with the usual language of philosophers,
spoken of _blue_ as an element in the colour of the skin, I have some
doubt whether it be a "true blue" or not. It is quite as likely
to arise from a partial participation in the quality of the negro
skin--that of absorbing a large portion of the light without any
analysis whatever. This may be called _darkness_.

However, to return to the Query: the term _pale_ is applied to the
yellow-tinted skin; _fair_, to the red or pink; _brown_, to the
mixture of red and yellow, with either blue or such darkness as
above described; _sallow_, to yellow and darkness; and the only close
approach to _whiteness_ that we ever see, is in the sick room of the
long-suffering fair complexion. In death, this changes to a "blackish
grey," a mixture of white and darkness.

The _pale_ complexion indicates a thick, hard, dry skin; the _fair_,
a thin and soft one; and all the shades of dark skin ren