Report of the Committee on Colour-Vision. 325 



give a pretext for getting- rid of men who have grown grey in 

 the service, and whose lengthened experience and faithful servi- 

 tude should entitle them to some consideration. 



k< In order, then, that men so tested may have the opinion of 

 their fellow members as to whether their sight is defective, I am 

 instructed to enclose you a card used for testing sight with which 

 members may test each other, and in the event of the unfair tests 

 beiug used by the Companies' officials, a reliable protest can then 

 be made, backed up by the verdict of the branch, which would, 

 of course, submit any member said to have defective sig-ht to the 

 usual tests in order to satisfy itself, before expressing an opinion. 



' ; It may also be found advantageous to frequently use it when 

 no such cases require to be decided, so that members may be 

 familiar with its use, and so be prepared to undergo the exami- 

 nation whenever called upon. 



M Printed instructions for using the card will be found on its 

 back. 



" I am, dear Sir, 



" Yours faithfully. 



EDWARD HARFORD, 



" General Secretary. 



" To the Branch Secretary." 



The Chairman : Have you any knowledge as to what the test 

 was that was issued with this circular ? 



The Witness : Yes, the ordinary railway test card, having 

 printed on it the small square dots and spaces, and the colours 

 red, green, yellow, and blue ; and this test is an absolutely useless 

 one. 



The Chairman : You think it impossible to get a colour-blind 

 through Holmgren's test ? 



The Witness : A congenital colour-blind. Yes, impossible. 



The Chairman : Have you any special evidence to give as to 

 accidents ? 



The Witness : I have given cases in my pamphlets. The first 

 case is to be found in the Annual Report of the Supervising In- 

 spector-General of Steam-boats, to the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 dated Washington, 1 880, and reads as follows : — 



" On the the night of the 5th July, 1875, there was a collision 

 near Norfolk, Virginia, between the steam-tug' Lumberman, 

 and the steam-ship Isaac Bell, the former vessel bound to, and 

 the latter from, Norfolk. The accident occurred about 9 p.m. on 

 an ordinary clear night under circumstances which, until recently, 

 seemed more or less mysterious. The master of the steamer and 

 all his officers made oath that at the time signals were made to 

 the tug-, the latter was from one to two points on the steamer's 

 starboard bow, and consequently the steamer's green light only 

 was visible to the approaching vessel. Yet the master of the 

 tug, whose statement was unsupported by any other testimony, 

 asserted that the steamer's red light was exhibited and signalled 



