ASSOCIATION OF COLORS WITH SOUNDS. 491 



notes were translated by certain fixed colors. The high notes induced 

 clear colors, and the low notes dull ones. More recently, M. Pedrono, 

 an ophthalmologist of Nantes, has observed the same peculiarities in one 

 of his friends. M. Pedrono's friend had become so accustomed to the 

 double perception of sounds and colors that he took no notice of it, and 

 never told it to any one, having forborne to speak of it at the outset for 

 fear of being considered singular. At one time several persons were 

 amusing themselves by repeating in all kinds of applications, as a kind 

 of joke, a slang expression which they had found in some story : "That 

 is as fine as a yellow dog." So everything was declared to be as fine 

 as a yellow dog. " Have you noticed his voice ? " said one of the com- 

 pany ; " it is as fine as a yellow dog." " Not at all," said M. Pedrono's 

 friend, quickly, " his voice is not yellow, it is pure red." The observa- 

 tion was made in so earnest a manner that the whole company laughed 

 out. " What ! " they said, " a red voice ! what do you mean ? " M. 



X had to explain the curious faculty he had of seeing the color of 



voices. Each of the company, then, of course, wanted to know what 



was the color of his own voice, and M. X had to satisfy them all. 



It so happened that one of them had a yellow voice. 



According to M. Pedrono, this friend of his had no trouble in his 

 eyes or ears. His hearing was good, his sight perfect, and his general 

 health excellent. Yet the chromatic sensitiveness was so sharp that 

 the luminous impression seemed to be made a little while before the 

 sonorous one ; and, before it was possible to judge the quality and in- 

 tensity of the sound, he had already seen and already knew whether it 

 was red, blue, yellow, or of other color. He did not, like the Zurich 

 student, perceive an appreciable change of color with every modifica- 

 tion of tone. A sharp note was only brighter, a flat one duller, than 

 the natural. But, when the same piece was played upon different in- 

 struments, varied sensations were produced. A Breton melody gave 

 the sensation of yellow when it was played on a saxophone, red on a 

 clarinet, and blue on the piano, showing that in this case the phenome- 

 non was chiefly influenced by the timbre. The intensity of the color 

 corresponds with the energy of the sound. Loud noises bring out 

 brilliant colors. Very sharp tones determine a grayish sensation, 

 that passes to a bright silver- white when they become intense. The 

 human voice gives multifarious impressions. The vowels i and e 

 (French) produce the most lively colors, a and o less defined ones, u a 

 dark tint. Generally, with this subject, e gives yellow, a dark blue, 

 red or orange, u black. The diphthongs give combined colors : etc 

 (French) is gray, oi clear gray, we violet. 



M- X can see all kinds of sounds and noises and distinguish all 



voices, but, curiously, can not perceive his own. When he is asked for 

 the definite form under which he sees the sounds, he replies that the 

 colored appearance is displayed on the vibrating object, the sonorous 

 body. If the string of a guitar is twanged, that is what is colored ; 



