The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-07-29

favorite subjects being passages from the
Hindoo Avatars, the epic "Ramayana,' and
the ''Mahabharata, or from legends, peculiar
to Siam, Of gods, heroes, and demons.
Throughout their literature, mythology is the
all pervading element; history, science, arts,
customs, conversation, opinion, doctrine, are
alike colored and favored with it.
From the article on "Color-Blindness" we
quote as follows
Contrary to what would naturally be sup
posed, defectiysperception of color is most
common in the V8dcated classes; at least this
is a conclusion of Wilson of Edinburgh, who
investigated the subject q few years SINCE,
advertising for persons with this defect, and
thereby charging greatly his field of observa-
ton.
Another singular fact in relation to the
whole subject is hat the existence of color
blindness should never have been discovered,
or if discovered never mentioned, until the
year 1876, when Dalton published an account
of bis own deficiencies in this respect. He
could not tell blue from pink, and hardly saw
more than two colors in the rainbow.
When the defect is well marked there is
always an inability to distinguish between
green's and reds. Boys do not see the red
apples on the tree, or they have bad luck in
gathering wild strawberries, or fail to dis
cover the red roses half hidden by the leaves.
Dark reds are called brown, while light reds,
light pinks, and light green's often pass for
light blues. A gentleman, in relating his own
case, complained of not being able to find his
red sealing-wax upon his green-covered
~writing-desk. He once gathered as a curiosity
some lichens from the roof of a house. The
lichens being, in his sight, of the same color
as the red-tiled roof, he thought he had made
q remarkable discovery. The lichens, how
ever, to his great chagrin, proved to be bright
green.
In a severer grade of the affection blue and
yellow are the only colors recognized, and
this form of disorder is the one most fire.
quently met with. Mix the blue and yellow,
the sole colors which the color-blind recog-
nize, and the product, green, they annot
see. A person relating his infrmity of this
nature observed that green, to him, was no
color unless it were red; pale blue and pink
were the same, but yellow, light, dark, and
medium, and all blues except the very pale,
he knew perfectly, and could distinguish with
readiness.
There is a still worse form of this defect
where yellow alone can be distinguished, or
where, in a few instances, even, individuals
have been discovered totally blind to all
color, and able merely to tell lighter from
darker shades. Such personsh have frequently
had an accurate perception of form and ex-
cellent eyesight. The case of Harris, related
in the Philosophical Transactions, is one of
this kind. He could never understand why
bright red was called red, and could do no
more than guess the name of any color. He
could see merely that white and any bright
colors were not black, and that a striped rib
bon differed from a plain one, The case of
q young woman is also recorded in the Trans
actions, who, on being tested, was foundt to
know white and black simply; and of a man
to whom all colors appeared as tints of gray,
or as different shades between black and
white. Firmas relates the case of a man who
knew no %colors, but was yet fond of paint
ing. He had frescoed his apartment in
colors, and was very proud of his
work. When questioned as to his
object in painting earth, sky, trees, houses,
and figures all blue, he replied that he wished
the picture to match the furniture in color
He was not aware that the latter was red
Another individual admitted that the rainbow
appeared to him as a ''band of lighter color
than the other parts of the sky, but a little
darker at one side than the other, and gradu
ally shaded off between the two Sides"