Abstract
MR. GLADSTONE has shown that the language of Homer is an inadequate vehicle for conveying precise and nicely distinguished ideas of colour. Whether the nation that was content to describe colours so imperfectly was also incapable of subtle perception of tones of colour is clearly another question. Language does not keep pace with perception unless a practical or æsthetic necessity arises for expressing what is perceived in words to other people.
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SMITH, W. The Colour-Sense of the Greeks. Nature 17, 100 (1877). https://doi.org/10.1038/017100a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/017100a0
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