EDITOR'S TABLE. 



849 



than " color-hearing," and more vague as 

 well as individualistic. While in some in- 

 stances the " photism," or associated color, 

 is distinct for every note in the octave, and 

 even for the overtones, in the associations 

 with sounds, those with tastes, smells, etc., 

 are barely more distinct than that tine, 

 pleasant tastes and smells suggest bright 

 colors, and contrariwise. 



There seems to be an appropriateness 

 in these general associations somewhat as we 

 find in such expressions as a " sweet child." 

 No one, I venture to say, if asked to as- 

 sociate colors with sounds, would make 

 light colors correspond to low notes. More 

 than this : Bleuler and Lehmann give a 

 table of the number of cases in which cer- 

 tain colors arc the " photisms " for the (lif- 

 erent vowel-sounds. On asking several per- 

 sons to force themselves to make similar 

 associations, I was surprised to find how 

 well their answers agreed with the table. 

 The answers were sometimes given with 

 great reluctance, and, when evidently little 

 more than guess-work, often disagreed with 

 the tables.* 



In the case of musical notes, tastes, 

 smells, etc., the association seems to be 

 effected by the " sensational element chiefly, 

 if not entirely," in the vowel associations, 

 and still more, in those with words, an 

 " intellectual element seems to play a part." 

 The sight as well as the sound of some let- 

 ters and words brings up the " photism." 

 We all know that some words have a charac- 

 ter ; words alike in meaning, the one of 

 Latin, the other of Anglo-Saxon origin, often 



differ more in character than in anything 

 else. In some cases it seems to be the 

 character that forms the ground of associa- 

 tion. 



We find also visualizations of numbers ; 

 by some they are seen rising in a scale up 

 to ten or twelve, and then breaking off, by 

 others going around the body, and in one 

 case even moral character and sex are at- 

 tributed to them. These associations seem 

 to be taken out of the sphere of the senses 

 into that of the intellect. It is to be no- 

 ticed that the intellectual associations are 

 more individualistic than the sensational 

 ones. The " photism " of the same tone is 

 probably similar in two persons ; if the same 

 word, probably entirely different. 



Of 596" persons (383 males, 213 females) 

 examined, 76 cases were found, i. e., about 

 12^ per cent. Slightly more (proportionately) 

 cases were found in females than in males. 

 The young seem to be subject to these visual- 

 izations rather than the old ; the educated 

 than the uneducated. The tendency to these 

 phenomena seems to be hereditary. 



There are many interesting and curious 

 facts to be noted in these phenomena ; the 

 time for their explanation has not yet come. 

 The method that seems most promising is 

 that of careful compilation and judicious 

 comparison of individual cases ; and I take 

 the liberty of adding that I would be very 

 much indebted to your readers for any 

 reports of similar phenomena observed in 

 themselves or others. Joseph Jostrow. 



Geemantown (Philadelphia, Pa.), 

 August 1, 1883. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



TEE MINNEAPOLIS MEETING. 



TT7E are gratified in being able to 

 V V report that the recent meeting 

 of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, held this year 

 at Minneapolis, was most satisfactory 

 and successful. It was, of course, not 

 so large as it would have been if con- 

 vened in a more central and accessible 

 place, but we have attended smaller 

 gatherings of this body a good deal 



* In one case the answer to the call for an asso- 

 ciation with o was " orange, but it may be because 

 that begins with an 0." Bleuler and Lehmann give an 

 exactly similar case when the color was visualized. 

 Even more accidental circumstances than this form 

 the ground of such associations. I found one per- 

 son to whom Sunday always calls up the color blue 

 (similar cases are reported by the Zurich students), 

 and who traces the circumstance to his having worn 

 a blue frock on Sundays in early childhood. 



vol. xxiii. 54 



nearer the seaboard. About three 

 hundred members were in attendance, 

 which, considering the obstacle of dis- 

 tance to be overcome by many of them, ' 

 shows that there is a strong and well- 

 sustained interest in the work of the 

 Association. But the success of such 

 a meeting is by no means dependent 

 upon the extent of the congregated 

 membership, for it may be assumed 

 that those present were mainly selected 

 by the earnestness of their interest in 

 the objects of the organization. A suc- 

 cessful scientific meeting, so remote from 

 the great centers of population, is the 

 best test of the vigor and prosperity of 

 the body. No doubt it is desirable 

 that it should most frequently meet 



