1891-92. ] NOTE ON POSTAGE STAMPS. 179 
day so much resemble each other that many persons can distinguish 
them only by close examination. Take for example the three cent and 
the one cent stamps; in general design they are identical, and the figures 
3 and I in each case are so minute as to be scarcely distinguishable in an 
artificial light, and more especially by persons advanced in years. It is 
true that with the intention of assisting the eye stamps are printed in 
different colours; red in one case, yellow in another, green in a third, 
and so on; but this mode of distinction in no way mends matters to those 
suffering from what is known as colour blindness. In truth it aggravates 
the evil, as some of the colours in use render the whole design, especially 
in certain lights, next to invisible. It is not surprising therefore, that one 
stamp is apt to be taken for another, as is frequently the case, unless care 
be taken to seek the aid of some person whose vision is in no way defective. 
It cannot be held that the class of persons who in various degrees are 
incapable of distinguishing colours, are of no account. According to 
the best authority it is estimated that one in every twenty is 
colour-blind. This rate would give for the whole Dominion not less 
than a quarter of a million souls who suffer from this incapacity. With 
justice and reason we may ask, why should this number, or any con- 
siderable number of the population, be disregarded in a matter which 
affects their daily lives? I can bear personal testimony to instances 
constantly arising from the difficulty in distinguishing the postage 
stamps in common use. In my own limited sphere scarcely a day passes 
without meeting with petty annoyances from the cause assigned. 
Personal inconvenience is of small consequence as arule; but in this 
case it is an experience which suggests how enormous must be the 
aggregate inconvenience traceable to the same cause. Moreover, the 
sender of letters is not the only sufferer from these petty annoyances, 
as letters improperly stamped have been known to remain in the dead 
letter office, or have had double charges levied on delivery to the receiver. 
I have, by implication, cast blame on the individual responsible for the 
details of the first stamp issued. Referring to some old memoranda I 
there find the original design or rather its facszmmz/e in the first proof from 
the engraver’s plate, and I am thus reminded that the blame must rest to 
a large extent upon myself, inasmuch as, at the request of the Post- 
master General I furnished the design bearing date February 1851. It 
must however be said that the stamp then issued is not the same in all 
respects as the present stamp. Among the changes which have been 
made, an effigy of the Queen’s head has been substituted for a deaver. 
Her Majesty’s portrait is always seen with satisfaction and few will fail to 
recognize the appropriateness of this change if they keep out of view 
the process of cancellation by the post office officials. The objection 
