The phenomenon of colour-blindness, or the insensibility of the eye to
certain colours, has been for many years past a puzzle both to the
physiologist and the philosopher. Perhaps the most remarkable case of
the sort is that mentioned first by Huddart, and quoted by Sir David
Brewster, of a shoemaker named Harris, living at Maryport, in
Cumberland, who was utterly incapable of distinguishing any colour at
all, and saw everything white, grey or black. The first time that Harris
noticed this defect, was when he was about four years old; having found
the stocking of a playmate in the street, he returned it to him at his
cottage, and noticed that every one said it was a red stocking, but he
could not understand why they should call this particular stocking red,
as it seemed to him to be like every other. This circumstance remained
in his mind, and a few more similar observations confirmed his
suspicions that he had some defect of sight that prevented him from
seeing as others did. He also observed that other children pretended to
distinguish cherries from their leaves by what they called their colour,
whilst he could see no difference between them, except those of shape
and size. He also noticed that by means of the difference of colour,
others could distinguish cherries on a tree at a much greater distance
than he could; whilst he, on the contrary, could see other things at
greater distances than his companions. Harris had two brothers, whose
eyes were similarly defective; one of these, that Huddart examined,
mistook green for yellow constantly, and orange for light green.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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