The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-02-24
The Color Question.

This is a scientific topic in which the vast
majority OF citizens OF South Carolina have
q right 10 be, and doubtless are, more or less
intensely interested. 1t is admitted that
color is the most effective element In the
decoration OF the earth we live on, which,
without its aid, would be Us dismal as
eepulchre. II there were but one color-lf
all objects were greer, or orange, or violet
or indigo, the human eye, now never weary
OF looking at the varied hues which even
the poorest landscape presents, would recoll
from q monotoDy that afforded no exercise
to it's cunning powers, and become the least
valuable organ Of the body. There are GER
tain philosophers who teach that things
exist only in being perceivedi that thing
which is not perceived is nothing, and that
'if there were no eyes to see, and no ears
"to hear. the whole universe would be dark
"ness and silence" Whether this be true
or not, it is certain that the eye, OF which a
German philosopher dlsparagingly said, 1T
.san optician sent him an instrument 30 full
eof defects, he would send 1t back to him
"wieh The severest censure," Is the instru-
ment, and color the source OF infinite enjoy
ment.
But what is color? The general impress
sion is that it is an inherent, inseparable
quality OF objects, like form and weight
that whiteness is q property OF snow, red
ness is property OF berries, and greenness, is
a property OF grass and leaves. But Professor
Tyndall tells Us some strange things on
this subject. According to him, the addi-
tion Of one sound to another, 10 such way
as to make the crest OF one undulatlon cor
respond to the sinus OF the other, produces
q dead silence, and the similar interference
OF one ray OF light with another produces
darkness, Sound Ia an undulation OF the
air, and light is an uudulat!on OF that me-
dium infinitely more tenuous than air, called
ether. AS pitch in sound is determined BY
the rapldty OF the vibration, 80 In light,
color. which is the analogue to pitch In
soupd, is determined by the rapidity OF the
vibrations OF the ether. The shorter the
waves OF the undulatlon, the more refrangi-
BILE the light. The shortest waves OF the
visible spectrum are those OF the extreme
violet; the longest are those OF the ex-
treme red; and the other colors are OF inter-
mediate wave-lepgth, accordingly as they
are nearer to the violet or red. The waves
OF light have been measured, and it is found
that the length OF the extreme red is such
that it would require s6,sls OF them placed
end to end to cover an inch, while 64,6l3
OF the extreme violet waves would be need
ed to span the same short distance. The
velocity OF light is 10000 miles second
Reducing this to inches and multiplying the
number by 36.s1s, will give US the number
OF waves that enter the eye every second.
All these waves strike the retins, and the
product OF four hundred and ffty-one MIL
lions OF shocks ls the impression OF red. By
a similar calculation Professor Tyndall in
forms US it is found that it requires seven
hundred and eighty-nine millions OF wave
shocks on the retina to produce the impress
sion OF violet. Color then is a mere matter
OF wave-engths OF iundulating ether; whether
an object is violet, or orange, or green
or red, or any hue of these, depends
on the number OF reflected waves OF ether
thrown of from it In second, and the
sensation which the shocks OF these waves
produce on the eye.