The anomaloscope is an instrument invented by Willibald Nagel in 1907 that is used to test for color blindness and color anomalies. It can determine if a person is a tritanope, dichromat, or achromatope, and its primary use is in detecting and characterizing anomalous trichromacy. The anomaloscope presents two color mixtures and allows the user to adjust one to match the other, providing a way to test how the eye perceives color differences.