Pxychnloyical Invest igationn 226 



'I'hey wuiild be built up as readily n8 a wall in built with briclcH. Even if it occupied » man a 

 whole day to make a single tablet (10 x 10), the entire affair would fill lem than a year of his 

 time. 



It is not to be supposed that the Vatican scale of colour v regular in the 



interval Ix-tween the several graduations, neither have I reason !• scrui)ulou« pains 



have been taken to keep the tints and hues of each bin identical in tlieir character for conwcutive 

 centuries, or even for shorter periods; but this at least is certain: that the series is as minute 

 and as comprehensive as it is ixissible to \w, that it exists in the most durable of all materials, 

 that it would Ik* exceedingly us(>ful to FIngland to possess such a scale, that it might be bad 

 almost for the n.sking and that it woulil bo a highly interesting and ornamental adjunct to the 

 South Kensington Museum. 



It luiglit well Ihj a subject for the subsequent consideration of the authoritiea of South 

 Kensington whether they should not select by means of the large amount of skill and science 

 at their disposal say one tenth of the Vatican series to create what might be called a South 

 Kensington scale of colours, and distriliute identical copies of it in mosaic, which would occupy 

 a space accoiiliiig to the alwve calculation of less than 10 feet x I foot, among the art schools 

 of the United Kingdom." 



In ;i postscript sent two dnys later Galton sucfgested that to avoid diffi- 

 culty iuid delay in Rome, it iniirht be adequate to ask for rough specimens 

 with their numbers from every bin and let the grinding to the required size 

 be done in England, where the machinery to do it was better and more 

 accessible than in Italy. Galton's letter was written on Feb. 3, the corre- 

 spondence from the Museum up to May 16th is a series of letters saying that 

 the subject "will receive consideration." After which date Galton, I presume, 

 gave up asking for an answer to his letter! Sixteen years later (1886) Galton 

 retiu'ned to his suggestion impressed by the fading of the original paintings 

 of Broca for skin tints', and by a furtner brief stay in Rome where he had 

 again visited the Vatican factory and made further inquiries. He now found 

 that there were 40,000 bins of mosaics, and of these 10,752 were classified; 

 they occupied 24 cases in each of which were 16 rows of 28 samples. The 

 flesh tints appropriate to European nation.s were about 500 in number, so 

 that the Vatican factory provided ample material for the selection of a series 

 of tints such as anthropologists desired. Topinard, Galton stated, was pre- 

 paring a new scale of only five or six tints for hair colour to be correlated 

 with Brocii's numbers, the latter's original tints having changed colour. Galton 

 had asked for a copy of this new scale in order to match it by mosaics; he 

 had promised to provide the cost, and he suggested that such scales in mosaics 

 should be circulated among anthropological institutes and mu.seum8. He 

 now adds that it may not be possible to get such mosaics from the Vatican 

 factory to judge by a former experience, but they could possibly be obtained 

 elsewliere. He then refers to his proposal of 1870 to the South Kensington 

 authorities and states that Mr Odo Rus.sell — later Lord Ampthill — our semi- 

 official representative at the Vatican (till 1870) was ultimately asked to 

 inquire as to the feasibility of carrying out the scheme, 



"but the price asked by the Papal Government was altogether excessive, and so the matter 

 dropjied. Now, however, resulting not improbably from my then alsirtive suggestions, I find 

 that such samples are being produce<l. I .saw one set in process of Ix'ing made." (p. 146.) 



' Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol. xvi, p. 145, 1886. "Notes on Permanent 

 Colour Types in Mosaic." 



pan S8 



