Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-07-03
I BLINDNESS

n,,o in every score is color blind?
hcno an earth they know not red from
/, nov see better into things unseenl
albwing a little for p~oetical license,
Holmes states very nearly the
t'.h when he says that one man out of
[srv twenty is color blind. The aver
: Is usually not quite so high as this,
Enough many scientists give it even
cher, 1t is safe to say that out of
|srv hundred persona, from three to
]. will be found afflicted with that de-
i Of vision called color blindness.
MANY persons have a lingering sus-
.;op that most of the diseases so
(%svalent to-day, but unheard of q few
.rs ago, owe their existence TO the
%Feutive faculties of physicians who
l, supposed to spend as much time in
lowering new ailments as they do in
ekius remedies for the old. There is
Cthing people in general are so much
rid Of as a new disease or an old one
M a new name. People attacked
M what our grandmothers used to
lung fever and think of little more
count than a case of measles, have
zen up the ghost straightway when
by the physician that they had
sumonia. 1t was the name that
led them more than the disease. So
hen scientists first told men that
or blindness vas among them, they
rcivcd as much gratitude as if they
4 awakened a destructive agent,
Itch before was dormant if not dead.
Where ignorance is bliss, tits folly
be wise"
And vet color blindness has probably
i,ted since the time of Adam, al
Ough only lately known to science.
Prof. Firthlof Holmgren, Professor
Physiology in the University of Up
Is sweden, may justly be given the
edit of formulating the correct theory
color blindness and also of devising
simple tests by which it may be dis
yrred. This was about the year
10. His tests, or a very slight modi-
alton of them, are now in use wher-
or it is necessary to examine men
til a view of discovering whether
BY can clearly distinguish colors or
/. The King of Sweden carefully
bd Holmgren's treatise on this SUBJ
i. and was SO much impressed with
/ facts therein contained, showing
/ danger of having color blind men,
10, as pilots OF captains of ships or
g%ineers and conductors on railroads,
re obliged to use colored signals,
it he ordered all the railroad en-
byes and sailors under his Govern
int to be examined by Holmgren's
It's for color blindness. The value
these tests became known in other
%lntries and now throughout the civil
d worlditis almost a universal custom
examine all men for color blindness
20 in their business should be able
srl.y to distinguish colofs. Railroads
(ecially have recognized the import
Re Of the matter, as many accidents
fairly we'll %provedto have happened
Emgh the color blindness of en-
YES. The United States Govern
nt has also passed a law compelling
pilots to submit to and pass an x
nation for color blindness before
ware given a certificate qualifying
IN to act.
[olor blind persons are divided into
general classes-thosc totally color
bd or capable of distinguishing only
fkness and light, and those partially
Or blind or able to distinguish some
os and not others. The latter per-
IS may be totally red blind, green
Pd. or violet blind, and they may
b be defective in one or all.
The totally color blind are very few
number, and, of course are aware
a"Ir intirmity. The partially color
hd are more numerous and very
In ignorant of their defect. Color
ldness may be hereditary or it may
he result OF injury and disease. It
very difficult disease to treat, and
en- congenital is incurable. Cases
been known where color blindness
been inherited in several families
as many as four generations, and
Re Is no reason to think that it will
eXlst in the blood of these families
all time to come Itdoes not attack
ry member of the family, but like
y other hereditary diseases, is un-
ain In its time of reappearing.
ome very curious mistakes have
made by the color blind. An
meet had to release an apprentice
consequence Of finding him copy a
Sn house in bluish-green paint, the
rose color, and roses, blue.
uadesman had a hired boy who
s1l to a customer pink and pale
u paper as good matches, and who
getting his master in trouble by
ing books in wrong colors.
ANY ladies' report that when work.
WIN colored worsteds they must
: the skeins marked.
P%ost-otfice clerk in Prussia was
TO be constantly in trouble with
lamps. Sometimes he had more
~ mar the stamps sold for were
w. al other times less. 1t was at
discovered that he could not tell
camps from green.
aea captain who used to work en-
Hsfy when time lay heavy on his
lost all appreciation for colors
,sr.asklng his eyes and was after
unable to distinguish red worsted
amusing story is told of Dalton.
sleorated English chemist. He
Quaker, and although about to