Od. 31, 1878] 



NATURE 



703 



sistent enough* with ordinary usage, as the red wine in 

 the south of Europe often is very dark, and is called 

 vmo nei'o. 



To the colour-blind, if red wine is moderately coloured 

 it appears a dark yellow-brown, but when very dark the 

 yellow element may disappear, being overpowered by the 

 blue in the purple, when the impression is simply black, 

 as to the normal-eyed. I frequently see strong red wines 

 in which I can distinguish no colour at all. 



Homer uses the word oinops for oxen, which, if a dark 

 ruddy brown, would present to the colour-blind the same 

 hue as red wine. 



He also uses it for the sea, under special associations 

 which seem to indicate darkness, as, for example, "under 

 a rattling breeze at night." In such a case the sea would 

 show no colour, and the term might be merely a poetical 

 simile drawn from the vino nero. 



We now come to the opposite group of colour-epithets, 

 applied to objects which give to the colour-blind a sensa- 

 tion of blue ; this group, in accordance with the com- 

 parative rarity of the impression it denotes, comprehends 

 a less variety of words, being limited to two. 



The most important is 



Ilop^vpfOf, 



which, I suppose, may be translated purple. 



This word, with its compounds, has, Mr. Gladstone 

 says, the largest and most varied application in Homer ; 

 he considers its use peculiarly embarrassing, and dwells 

 (^- 373-4) H. 461) at considerable length on the ano- 

 malies it presents. 



He states that Homer's uses of the word imply three 

 very different forms of colour, namely, red, purple, and 

 grey, and no doubt, to the normal-eyed, these are incon- 

 gruous enough ; but, when we consider the terms under 

 the colour-blind aspect, the incongruities disappear. 



The second colour appreciable to the dichromic vision 

 is blue, and a great number of different hues in nature, 

 which happen to contain blue in their composition, 

 appear to the colour-blind as varieties or shades of this 

 colour. For example, many crimson hues of red, verging 

 towards violet, contain blue, and, being darkened by the 

 red, show dark shades of this colour. Purple or violet is 

 a still bluer compound. AH blue-greens appear blue, 

 and, in regard to dark greys, they often have blue in 

 them, or at least give a blue impression. 



Now assuming the poet to have dichromic vision, I 

 suppose porphureos would be the most likely word in 

 Mr. Gladstone' s list to represent his idea of the various 

 shades of blue; and it is easy to recognise its applications 

 in this way by the examples given (N. 373, H. 461). 

 Omitting the metaphorical uses of the word, we find it 

 applied : — 



To various articles of clothing and furniture, which 

 might be of many colours, all conveying the sensation of 

 blue. 



To the rainbow. I have, in my paper, fully explained 

 the appearance of the solar spectrum ; it presents two 

 colours only, the less refrangible part appearing yellow, 

 the more refrangible part appearing blue. Hence a 

 colour-blind person in speaking of the rainbow may cor- 

 rectly use either term. Homer appears to use both, for 

 in another place he compares the rainbow to a dragon 

 or a serpent, for which he uses the words daphoinos or 

 kuaneos, both, as we have seen, belonging to the yellow 

 category. 



To blood. Under the word eriithros it has been 

 pointed out that blood, when venous, loses what yellow 

 element it possessed and by tending towards purple 

 shows a blue impression to the colour-blind. This will 

 account for the mention of blood in this class. 



To a dark cloud. The prevailing hue of dark clouds 

 is, both to the normal-eyed and the colour-blind, grey. 



But this grey may, by atmospheric causes, become tinged 

 either with brown or with blue ; the former case has been 

 noticed under the word kuaneos, the latter comes in here. 



To waves and to the darkening sea. The beautiful 

 blue colour often seen in the Mediterranean is notorious, 

 and to me, at least, it has been particularly marked in the 

 darker aspects of the water. 



To death. So far as this application of the colour 

 epithet may be literal, it may be explained by the fact 

 that the livid hue of a corpse has to the colour-blind a 

 decidedly blue tinge. 



Violet-coloured. This epithet clearly belongs to the 

 blue group, for the colour violet is a compound of blue 

 with red, and to the colour-blind eye the blue element 

 alone is visible, the red addition having merely the effect 

 of giving a dark shade. Hence the word may be used by 

 them consistently enough for all impressions of darkened 

 blue. 



It is applied by Homer : — 



To the sea, for which, on the colour-blind view, it is 

 equally appropriate with porphureos. 



To iron, which is both to the normal-eyed and to the 

 colour-blind a bluish grey. 



To wool, which Mr. Gladstone (N. 380) thinks may 

 have been dyed to a deep purple. 



To living sheep (H. 471). This application is not so 

 intelligible, as, so far as I recollect the appearance of 

 black sheep, their colour has inclined rather to brown 

 than to blue. The word, however, used here is a com- 

 pound one, iodnephes, meaning, according to Liddcll and 

 Scott, "violet-dark," and it may possibly refer to that 

 variety of dark violet I have before mentioned, in which 

 the blue tinge is indistinguishable. There would seem to 

 be a certain analogy here with the use of oinops for the 

 black sea. 



Mr. Gladstone includes among his adjectives one 

 which I call neutral, i.e., used for objects Avhich do not 

 convey to the colour-blind either of their two colour 

 sensations. This is 



IloXtoy, 



usually translated grey or hoary. Mr. Gladstone says 

 (N. 381, H. 466) it is applied to the human hair in old 

 age, to iron, and to the hide of a wolf, in all which cases 

 grey is a fair interpretation. 



But it is also a stock adjective for the sea, being used 

 for it in no less than twenty-four places. Now the 

 standard colour of the sea (the blue being exceptional) is, 

 I am told, green, and I know by my own observation that 

 the particular hue of green is just that which is neutral 

 to the colour-blind, thus appearing grey. It is possible 

 that the word, in the sense of "hoary," may refer to the 

 sea foam ; but if it is really intended to mean grey, its 

 repeated use for the green sea is an additional proof of 

 the correspondence of the sensations of the writer with 

 those of the colour-blind. 



I pass over the words aithos, aithops, &c., as Mr. 

 Gladstone, while finding great difficulty in their inter- 

 pretation, hardly considers them epithets of coloui-. 



It may be useful to add a summary, appreciable at a 

 glance, of the various objects to which colour epithets 

 have been applied by Homer, classifying them as above 

 described. 



Group I. — Objects conveying to the Colour-blind the 

 Sensation of Yellow or Yellow Darkened. 



SavBos — Human hair. 



Coats of horses. 

 'EpvBpos — Copper. 



Wine, Nectar. 



Blood (arterial). 



