1904.J OLIVER — COLOR- SIGNALS IN MARINE SERVICE. 207 



and geographical view than does J and the school of writers that 

 follow him. Lastly, it is to be noted that the writers responsible 

 for the numerous additions and glosses to J as well as the compiler 

 who combined J witli P stand under the influence of the narrower 

 view manifested by J, so that in its present form the Volkertafel in 

 the tenth chapter of Genesis regarded as a '' combined " document 

 impresses one as bearing out J's conception of Hamites and 

 Shemites, the former as the ''accursed," the latter as those 

 ''blessed" by Jahweh, rather than P's definition. Nor is it sur- 

 prising, in view of political events and religious developments in 

 the post-exilic period, that the more rigidly "scholastic" division 

 of nations should have been eclipsed by one that appealed more to 

 the national interests and that must have been a source of hope and 

 consolation in trying days — encouraging the Hebrews to look for- 

 ward to a time when the " curse " and " blessing " pronounced on 

 Ham and Shem, or Canaan and Eber, respectively, would be ful- 

 filled. 



University of Pennsylvania, June, igo4. 



REGULATION OF COLOR-SIGNALS IN MARINE AND 

 NAVAL SERVICE. 



RY CHARLES A. OLIVER. 



{Read. April 9, 190 4.) 



When it is considered that the most dangerous periods of time 

 for the safety of lives and preservation of property at sea are those 

 during which the proper recognition of color-signals constitutes the 

 main and, at times, the only guide for immediate action, the impor- 

 tance of the regulation of the choice of the colors used, the character 

 of the materials employed, the size of the objects submitted for 

 inspection, and the degree and the character of the visual acuity 

 necessary for the determination of such colors, become evident. 



So long as the high seas are necessarily free, and harbors con- 

 stantly changing in topography and ofttimes difficulty of access ; 

 rivers and streams occupied in similar places by crafts of varied 

 size and differing speeds ; permanently fixed objects, such as buoys 

 and direction and danger indicators, must have color differentiation 

 employed as their main expressive feature ; and color-signs must be 

 used to signify the position of large floating masses, such as ships at 



