CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 793 



The 'Repertoire de Couleurs '' of Oberthiir and Dauthenay, published by 

 the French Chrysanthemum Society in 1905, contains over 1,400 samples. The 

 colours are named in almost every case in several languages. The great objection 

 to this work is its size. 



The ' Code det> Couleurs ' ' of Klincksieck and Valette appeared in 1908. 

 It is a convenient little book, containing 720 specimens of colwir, but they are 

 merely numbered. The work was prepared jirincipally for the use of myco- 

 logists. Both the Repertoire and the Code are arranged on a simplification of 

 Chevreul's method. 



Ridgway's ' Color Standards and Color Nomenclature ' ' wa.s issued in 1912. 

 The 1,115 samples are named, though some of the names are not such that would 

 appear suitable for a standard nomenclature. 



Added to these numerous charts are those of different manufacturers and 

 those drawn up by artists, &c. Even philatelists have their colour schemes. 



Lovibund's tintometer is far too complicated and too expensive for ordinary 

 use in the description of specimens. The fact that so many attempts have been 

 made to draw up colour schemes shows clearly that a standard of colours is 

 necessary, as is also a standard of nomenclature. Naturalists could decide to 

 adopt the French Chrysanthemum Book or Ridgway. The former was adopted 

 by the Royal Horticultural Society, but recently it ha* been somewhat ousted 

 amongst horticulturists by the American book, principally owing to the latter 

 being much more convenient to use. On inquiry I find that amongst naturalists 

 these two works are the most frequently used. 



The ' Code des Couleurs,' though very convenient to use, suffers from the 

 fact that the colours are unnamed. 



But the Chrysanthemum Book costs a guinea and Ridgway thirty-five 

 shillings ! In most branches of science, colour is not regarded with so much 

 favour as to demand such an outlay, even for a satisfactory range of tints. 

 Colour in many organisms varies so much under different conditions that it is 

 not regarded as a specific character. What seems to be required is, not a 

 scale to record the minutest variation, but merely one that will add definiteness 

 to the description of the general range in colour. Probatly a scale with 

 about 200 samples would be found sufficient for ordinary use. In such 

 branches of science as horticulture, mycology, ornithology, &c., where colour 

 is of more importance, additional colours could be interpolated. If anyone 

 interested in any particular science will look through the colour charts which 

 are here, he will find very many colours which will seem more or less useless 

 in that science, and in certain cases will find that there are not sufficient of 

 certain grades. As an example of what I mean : Horticulturists could dispense 

 with a large number of the colours given in Ridgway ; mycologists certainly can 

 omit page after page. On the other hand, there is already a movement on foot 

 to produce another edition of Ridgway, with more tones of such colours as 

 ' salmon -pink. ' My own opinion is that it is not wise to attempt to make such 

 a complete range as would satisfy every possible use. The way out of the 

 difficulty is obviously that of having a general scheme with a small number of 

 colours ; then additional editions may be provided in those subjects where there 

 is special demand, or separate sheets of the variations of the original colours 

 of the general scheme could be prepared. If, as one would hope, a standard 

 of colours should be adopted in all branches of science, art, and industry, the 

 latter scheme would appear to be the more feasible. The advantages of having 

 a universal standard of colours are so obvious that one would expect the very 

 great difficulties of obtaining such would not prove insurmountable if the matter 

 were approached in a proper manner. 



The earlier schemes lacked one of the primary essentials of colour standards 

 in that they were not standards at all. Ridgway's scheme is the only one in 

 which the colours have been standardised by physical methods, and hence the 

 only one in which the colours can be reproduced with accuracy. In the sug- 

 gested standard of colours, it would be the work of physicists, by moans of such 

 apparatus as Michelin's grating and Maxwell's disc, to give us the definition 

 of our colours. In this way the defect from which all colours suffer to some 



' Copies of these works were shown at the meeting. 



