206 Mr. Harvey on an Anomalous Case of Vision 



beautiful diversities of light and shade, has always appeared 

 to him under a dark and murky aspect. While others have 

 contemplated with high gratification the splendour of the set- 

 ting sun, or the glory of the rainbow, he has seen but little to 

 admire ; and, when led by the chances of a seaman's life, into 

 the-Mediterranean, where a bright sun and a pure and cloud- 

 less sky lend to the glowing tints and the vivid colouring of 

 nature charms unknown to the climates of the North, the con- 

 trast produced no peculiar effect on him: nor has this arisen 

 from a morbid constitution of mind ; for, on the contrary, he 

 is remarkably happy and cheerful ; and, from all the informa- 

 tion I have been able to obtain respecting him, has always been 

 distinguished for his steadiness, cheerfulness, and good conduct. 

 From several opportunities that I have had of examining 

 into the peculiarities of his case, I have drawn up the follow- 

 ing brief observations. 



Of whites, he appears to have a very good idea, and so also 

 of grays ; — he having selected five pieces of cloth of the latter 

 colour, and arranged them according to their varieties of 

 shade, with perfect ease. By candle-light, however, he mis- 

 took a thread of pink silk for gray, and, under the same cir- 

 cumstances, confounded flax-flower blue (No. 29, Werner's 

 Nomenclature of Colours by Syme) with the same colour. 



On Syme's page of blacks being presented to him, he 

 thought the whole to be dark-green. At first he pointed out 

 the specimen which had the darkest tone ; but after a few mi- 

 nutes, he remarked that they all appeared the same. When 

 specimens of basalt and hornblende were placed before him, he 

 could perceive no difference, although the former had a grayish, 

 and the latter a greenish hue. Between raven and fine velvet 

 black he could perceive no difference. His master furnished 

 me with the following fact. Being desired to repair an article 

 of dress that required black silk, he employed crimson ; and a 

 similar mistake occurred on two other occasions. 



Both indigo and prussian blue (24 and 25 of Syme) he re- 

 garded as black. China and azure blue (26, 27, ibid.) he 

 considered to be blue, but thought them good matches for 

 carmine-red (90), when placed by its side. Ultramarine blue 

 (28), he thought to be the same as Jake-red; and when a light 

 lake-coloured wafer was laid on a piece of azure-blue cloth, 

 he thought the resemblance very perfect. Flax-flower blue 

 (29), he could distinguish as blue. His master informed me 

 that he once confounded sky-blue with green when repairing 

 some article of dress; and on another occasion, when a young 

 gentleman's dark- blue coat was brought to him for immediate 



repair, 



