Page:Color standards and color nomenclature (Ridgway, 1912).djvu/25

 ored space designated as no. 2 ; and in tone between the full color (middle horizontal line) and tint b. Its designation, therefore, is 2a. Exactly the same method applies to any of the other blank spaces, as well as to the colors themselves, except that in case of the broken colors the "primes" (′, ′′, ′′′, ′′′′, or ′′′′′) are to be affixed to the hue number. First locate the hue, designated by number, then the tone, designated by lower case letter, the full, pure colors of the middle horizontal row being designated by number alone.

— While it is true that the naming of colors as usually employed has so little to do with the purely technical aspects of chromatology or color-physics that, as Von Bezold remarks "we are in reality dealing with the peculiarities of language," it is equally true that a collection of color standards designed expressly for the purpose of identifying and designating particular colors can best attain this object by the use of a carefully selected nomenclature. In other words, the prime necessity is to standardize both colors and color names, by elimination of the element of "personal equation" in the matter. In no other way can agreement be reached as to the distinction between "violet" and "purple," two color names quite generally used interchangeably or synonymously but in reality belonging to quite distinct hues, or that any other color name can be definitely fixed. Various methods of handling the matter of color in zoological and botanical descriptions, etc., by the avoidance of color names and substitution therefor of symbols, numerals, or mechanical contrivances (as color-wheel and spectrum analyses, color-spheres, etc.) have been devised but all have been found impracticable or unsatisfactory. The author has taken the trouble to get an expression of opinion in this matter from many