384 Report of the Committee on Colour- Vision. 



so. We can judge by his answer of his sense with regard to 

 these shades, and the object of this investigation is accomplished. 



" It results from all this that many who are finally considered 

 to have a normal chromatic sense may occasionally cause 

 embarrassment. In the main, the normal observer of this 

 kind causes greater loss of time than the colour-blind. It is 

 astonishing to see with what rapidity the colour-blind betray 

 their defect. At least it is found, in the majority of the cases 

 examined by us, that the first skein of wool selected from the 

 pile by the colour-blind in the first test was one of the ' colours 

 of confusion.' 



" (B) Interfering when the Examined select too few Wools. 



" Those who evince too great slowness also require the inter- 

 ferences of the examiner in another manner. We can lay aside 

 here those cases in which, at the sight of the complex colours of the 

 heap of wool, the examined finds it difficult to select a skein 

 resembling the sample in a collection where all the particular 

 colours seem to differ from each other, and in consequence declares 

 immediately that he can find none resembling the specimen. It 

 is replied that an absolute resemblance is not demanded, and 

 that no one asks impossibilities ; that time is limited, many are 

 waiting, &c. But there are people who — from natural slowness-, 

 from being unaccustomed to such business, from fear of making 

 mistakes, especially if they have been previously examined and 

 been suspected of colour-blindness, or from many other motives — 

 proceed with the greatest caution. They do not even wish to 

 touch the wool ; or they search, select, and replace with the 

 greatest care all the possible skeins without finding one cor- 

 responding with the sample, or that they wish to place beside it. 

 Here, then, are two cases : on one hand, too much action with 

 the fingers, without result ; on the other, too little effort. The 

 examiner is forced to interfere in both cases. 



" (a) At the time of a too- great manual action, without 

 corresponding practical result, the examiner must be careful 

 that the eye and hand act simultaneously for the accomplishment 

 of the desired end. 



" Some people forget that the hands should be subservient to 

 the eye in this trial, and not act independently. Thus they are 

 often seen to fix their eyes on one side while their hands are 

 engaged on the other. This should be corrected, so as to save 

 time and avoid further labour. When, from the manual activity 

 of the one examined, or by the unobserved aid of the examiner, 

 all the correct skeins, or only a portion, are found in the pile, it 

 is wise to stop, and invite the former to cross his hands behind 

 his back, to step back a pace, and quietly consider all the skeins, 

 and, as soon as his eye has met one of those for which he is 

 looking, to extend his hand and take it. The best plan is to 

 advise him to look first at the sample, and then at the pile, and 

 to -repeat this manoeuvre until his eyes find what he is looking 

 for. 



