Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1913 — SEE GRAY COLOR IN HUNGER [ARTICLE]

SEE GRAY COLOR IN HUNGER

Experiments Throw an Interesting Light on Ideas That Have Shape In the Minds ;of the Blind. Observation of the fact that the blind associate color with sounds and give shapes to ideas, has led Professors Herman Schenk and Ludwig Regner, of Heidelberg, to carry on a series of curious experiments to determine the dominant conceptions of sounds and abstract ideas in terms of color and fdrm. The experiments have been made with 1,000 blind persons and 5,000 persons with sight From the mass of answers to the questions the extraordinary fact has been ascertained that there is an unexplained unity in the minds of both seeing and blind, To the question: “What is the shape of a year?” 300 blind and 600 seeing answered: “A hill.” Some amplified it by saying: “A hill leading up to summer and down to winter.” One hundred blind and 50 seeing answered: “A tunnel.” Amplification —“light at the opening, getting darker and darker.” Another favorite answer was: "A long strip—brightening in the center and getting dark at the end.” To the question: “What color is hunger,” the dominant answer was “gray.” The second average was: “Black with a dull red core.” To “what shape is Christmas?” three-quarters answered: “Round.” Amplifications were: “Because every one sets In a family circle”; “money is round, so are plum puddings”; “because most people are contented and contentment is round.” In names, “Horace” suggested a tweedy pepper-and-salt mixture, “Maude” suggested heliotrope, “George” both pale pink and mouse color.