.7 COLOURS 'OP .PAIN: .
;..,. :: [To_ TH1F Ezirriut or vas vsiserAvea.,•3 , •
Was interested in the lettet:of Etuly:Ifug,bes in ;your issue of June 29th dealing- with 'the -coldins, of light,: chiefly for the train of thought it suggested and- the help iave-iwfollowing an idea I.have had for some years past.. Put: in the form of a.question it is this : Is there any-psychological, .connexiou between pain and colour P Your correspondent;' quotes Professor Everett-as saying that " there-is an.,obvious. analogy between colour and musical pitch"; and Sir. Oliver Lodge : " The length of the wave depends' on' the period of vibration, and different lengths of wave produce the different colour sensations. . . . By the pitch of the sound it is easy to calculate the rate of vibrations of the fork; by the colour of the light one can determine the rate of vibration of the atom.", Hence light (or colour) and sound are the results of vibration. Is pain a vibration P Professor Sully writes : "The moderate stimula- tion of the central nervous organs is attended with pleasure," but that when the stimulation "increases to the point of excessive;or fatiguing, action . . . it gives way to a feeling of pain." I feel that there is some connexion between pain and colour : to me different pains suggest different colours, e.g., acute toothache would suggest a bright colour, probably yellow; a less acute but throbbing pain dull brown or purple; and sometimes I can conceive a blue pain (in the singular, not plural !). If pain is vibration therein lies the explanation. Briefly, the greater the vibration of light and sound waves the brighter the light and the higher the pitch. Will this account for two things—(1) a child screaming (on a high note) with severe pain; and (2) an acute or sharp pain suggesting a bright colour P In the little psychology I have read I have seen no notice of the point, and would be glad to know your readers' experience.—I am, Sir, &c., R. WALKER BERRY.
Previous page
