Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-01-05
coLoas KILL on cusE.
investigation oi Inc Emotional Effect Of Va
rious Hues Upon Mankind.

The investigation Of the emotionai ,, ei,
feet of various colors upon mahkinu u
opens rich harvest field. But so far
there have been but few rcapers and
cleaners to cut and gather the crop:
DR.. William s. WadswOrth assistant
professor of physiology In the University
Of Pennsylvania and brotner OF n9v. tt. /.
pursuing the study OF eolors IN one o OF
Prof. Reichert's laboratories: Or. Wads-
worth is admirably equipped for making
precise scientific examinations ana
Nearly all cultivated people are lovers
of fine music, and at once appreciate
the. different emotional e, effects pis.a produGiea
and by the dreamy and soothing ga
dences of Schuberts 'Serenade. Ger
tain selections of music drive men TO
battle and other varieties lull them into
absolute content aud peace. But prob
ably II has rarely occurred to even lne
most thoughtful that ones eyes are more
amennble to the harmonies and dlscords
of colors than are the ears to the rest
fulness engendered by soft or harsh
sounds.
The worst form of torture which, the
Purple East has eyer .,d,h devised has pSen
itiation to thes Buddhist mysteries-the
perfection of astral education-ls the
so-called .'coior test The neophytes
room. and at given sigma! the whole
surrounding space Is flooded with an
eXcruciating tint of purple light. 1t Is
reported by reliable witnesses that not
more than three-quarters of those thus
penned in are alive at the end OF several
hours and that all the survivors are
more or less frenzied. When one Is
thoroughly exhausted the eyes are in
that the readicst and quickest relief for
this physiological condition is TO bathe
the eyes with green. Either go out into
the rich greens of the woods and field or
if that be impossible, permit the eyes
to rest untrammeled upon some extensive
green colored surface.
I DR.. S. Millington Miller. who spent sev-
eral hours with Dr. Wadsworth in his
laboratory some ten days ago, thus de-
scribes for the Philadelphia Ledger what
he saw there:
II was curious to test his positive state
ments. SO | sat on a chair, and he gave
me Il little bottle of purple liquid and
told me TO hold IL up 10 the light and
keep my eyes fixed on it,. First it fas-
cinated me. then IL dazed me. then II
rritated me then il craZed me. ! could
-stand it no longer. He carefully selected
Il vial filed with a particular shade of
green. and handed IL to me with the same
instructions Scarcely had ] held ii up
before nervous spasm passed through
me- fhom head to foot-a regular cold
chill. He laughed and said on, II gives
you a Spasm. too. well, nave touched
your Keynote.
Blue glass is tuned to blue vibrations.
Strike certain note on the piano ana
your dog howls; strike another and a
wine glass standing on the table * shat
tered. strike still another and the gas
flares up This quality of being naturally
sympathetic with certain vibrations Is
common IN physics. The physics OF me-
We're touched by and vibrated 10 the
green light coming through the vial.
DIR. Wadsworth has a new form OF
apparatus TO test physically and exactly
the emotional effects of various colorS.
a man sits at a table and presses down
a key. topping a powerful steel spring.
He is told 10 keep Al pressed down hard.
So long as his attention is not diverted
he does so. and Il little wooden finger.
connected with the key by wire and rest
ing lightly on revolving blackened
cylinder draws an almost straight line
as this cylinder is revoived. S3ut when
q transmitted purple liShl fio6ds through
an aperture close to the mans face his
attention Is 50 much diverted from tine
key that the little finger scratches a line
OF angry, topping waves on the cylinder.
Purple is turned Off and scarlet rurned
on. The waves are not so stormy. but
still quite accentuated. Next comes vel
low. and so on. The height of the wave
lines on the cylinder designates meChau-
ical equivalents of emotion The higher
the wave the greater the emotional effect
OF the color.
Take a basin of boiling hot water and
dash both your hands into 1t. drawing
them out Immediately. veritable thrill
of nervous excitement flows throughout
your body. II you are what the hypno-
this plunging and withdrawing sequence
for some time, it will produce first tears
and finally actual hysteria. Well, DR..
Wadsworth has little tablet, made up
of % or 60 colors. in sheets. one below
the other. aud when he .fiips these colors
adroitly with finger and thumb your APP
probation of their gamut is quite as
ecstatic sensation as when YOU keep
on dipping your hands in boiling water.
mean 10 say that the sequence of colors
stirs you profoundly. and if it is kept up
for any length of time makes you exceed
ingly responsive from a standpoint of
nerves.
There was a Brittany peasant who
came to Paris a little before the date
of the French Revolution with what he
called a 'Harmonium of Perfumes and
it gave the cosmopolitan audiences quite
new sensation to have their nostrils
so deliciously thrilled with fugues and
Sonatas of perfume. The fact of the ma
ter is that if we knew as much as they
did in the time of the japanese Renais-
sance about the emotional combination
of odors. or much as Dr. Wadsworth
knows about the rhythm and melody OF
colors We might excite or soothe other
senses than that of hearing at concerts
other than those of sound.