_Complexion_ is usually (and I think universally) employed to express
the _tint of the skin_; and the hair and eyes are spoken of separately
when the occasion demands a specific reference to them. "NEMO"
(No. 22. p. 352.), 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 render a large
amount of ablution essential to health, comfort, or agreeableness
to others. If any of your readers should feel curious about the
characters of the wearers of these several skins, they must inquire of
Lavater and his disciples.