[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "]
Sin,—The suggestive correspondence in your columns 'on the colours of pain, number4, and names opens up many intereits ing byways for exploration. The various effect of colours oil different persons is very marked, and it would be interesting to knoWsvhether this is due to temperament or association.
One of your correspondents, for instance, suggests that.green is the colour of a lively joy; to the poetic temperament it
would appear to mean the peace induced by love. Verlaine's poem, of which I quote the last stanza, is entitled " Green."
" Sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma Me Touts sonore encore de vos derniers baisers; Laissez-la s'apaiser de in bonne tempete, Et que je donne un pen puisque vous reposes."
To Marvell green suggests love or peace, more or less con- jointly, for in his well-known " Thoughts in a Garden " he sings :—
"No white or red was ever seen So amorous as this lovely green."
And again :—
"Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green shade."
The colours of sensations, mental ones at any rate; seem to be due to temperament, if we consider that different peoples have different colours of mourning. In " Pen, Pencil, and Poison" we read of " that curious love of green which in individuals is always the sign of a subtle artistic tempera
ment, and in nations is said to denote a laxity if not a decadence of morals." But it is probable that as regards
numbers and names it is a question of association. The arrangement of numbers in the brain is another very interest.
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