I think you're missing something. Presumably Balmer did ask this question. At least a few times. And yet he never heard of the correct answer, and believed t

I think you're missing something. Presumably Balmer did ask this question. At least a few times. And yet he never heard of the correct answer, and believed the incorrect answer to be correct. That tells you that if anyone did say "actually, you're wrong" he never listened to them.