reblogging Ben Katchor:

from A. F. Ward’s Universal System of Semaphoric Color Signals, 1862

“A Novel and Original Invention, by which 46,656 words or sentences can be represented with six colors, intended as A Medium of Communication between all Nations, and Applicable to any Language; also adapted to sound and night signals, by which communications may be made at all-seasons, without regard to weather.”

via benkatchor