下面是一个在“经典”R图形中如何做到这一点的例子:

## generate some random data
carrotLengths <- rnorm(1000,15,5)
cucumberLengths <- rnorm(200,20,7)
## calculate the histograms - don't plot yet
histCarrot <- hist(carrotLengths,plot = FALSE)
histCucumber <- hist(cucumberLengths,plot = FALSE)
## calculate the range of the graph
xlim <- range(histCucumber$breaks,histCarrot$breaks)
ylim <- range(0,histCucumber$density,
              histCarrot$density)
## plot the first graph
plot(histCarrot,xlim = xlim, ylim = ylim,
     col = rgb(1,0,0,0.4),xlab = 'Lengths',
     freq = FALSE, ## relative, not absolute frequency
     main = 'Distribution of carrots and cucumbers')
## plot the second graph on top of this
opar <- par(new = FALSE)
plot(histCucumber,xlim = xlim, ylim = ylim,
     xaxt = 'n', yaxt = 'n', ## don't add axes
     col = rgb(0,0,1,0.4), add = TRUE,
     freq = FALSE) ## relative, not absolute frequency
## add a legend in the corner
legend('topleft',c('Carrots','Cucumbers'),
       fill = rgb(1:0,0,0:1,0.4), bty = 'n',
       border = NA)
par(opar)

唯一的问题是，如果直方图断点是对齐的，它看起来会更好，这可能需要手动完成(在传递给hist的参数中)。

下面是一个更简单的解决方案，使用基本图形和alpha混合(并不适用于所有图形设备):

set.seed(42)
p1 <- hist(rnorm(500,4))                     # centered at 4
p2 <- hist(rnorm(500,6))                     # centered at 6
plot( p1, col=rgb(0,0,1,1/4), xlim=c(0,10))  # first histogram
plot( p2, col=rgb(1,0,0,1/4), xlim=c(0,10), add=T)  # second

关键是颜色是半透明的。

编辑，两年多后:由于这篇文章刚刚获得了好评，我想我不妨添加一个可视化的代码，因为alpha混合是如此有用:

基本想法很好，但代码可以改进。[需要很长时间解释，因此需要单独回答，而不是评论。]

hist()函数默认绘制图形，因此需要添加plot=FALSE选项。此外，通过plot(0,0,type="n"，…)调用可以更清晰地建立plot区域，您可以在其中添加轴标签、plot标题等。最后，我想提一下，还可以使用阴影来区分两个直方图。代码如下:

set.seed(42)
p1 <- hist(rnorm(500,4),plot=FALSE)
p2 <- hist(rnorm(500,6),plot=FALSE)
plot(0,0,type="n",xlim=c(0,10),ylim=c(0,100),xlab="x",ylab="freq",main="Two histograms")
plot(p1,col="green",density=10,angle=135,add=TRUE)
plot(p2,col="blue",density=10,angle=45,add=TRUE)

这里是结果(有点太宽，因为RStudio:-)):

下面是一个在“经典”R图形中如何做到这一点的例子:

## generate some random data
carrotLengths <- rnorm(1000,15,5)
cucumberLengths <- rnorm(200,20,7)
## calculate the histograms - don't plot yet
histCarrot <- hist(carrotLengths,plot = FALSE)
histCucumber <- hist(cucumberLengths,plot = FALSE)
## calculate the range of the graph
xlim <- range(histCucumber$breaks,histCarrot$breaks)
ylim <- range(0,histCucumber$density,
              histCarrot$density)
## plot the first graph
plot(histCarrot,xlim = xlim, ylim = ylim,
     col = rgb(1,0,0,0.4),xlab = 'Lengths',
     freq = FALSE, ## relative, not absolute frequency
     main = 'Distribution of carrots and cucumbers')
## plot the second graph on top of this
opar <- par(new = FALSE)
plot(histCucumber,xlim = xlim, ylim = ylim,
     xaxt = 'n', yaxt = 'n', ## don't add axes
     col = rgb(0,0,1,0.4), add = TRUE,
     freq = FALSE) ## relative, not absolute frequency
## add a legend in the corner
legend('topleft',c('Carrots','Cucumbers'),
       fill = rgb(1:0,0,0:1,0.4), bty = 'n',
       border = NA)
par(opar)

唯一的问题是，如果直方图断点是对齐的，它看起来会更好，这可能需要手动完成(在传递给hist的参数中)。

这里是类似于我只以r为基数给出的ggplot2的版本。我从@nullglob复制了一些。

生成数据

carrots <- rnorm(100000,5,2)
cukes <- rnorm(50000,7,2.5)

您不需要像使用ggplot2那样将其放入数据帧中。这种方法的缺点是你必须写出更多的情节细节。这样做的好处是你可以控制更多的情节细节。

## calculate the density - don't plot yet
densCarrot <- density(carrots)
densCuke <- density(cukes)
## calculate the range of the graph
xlim <- range(densCuke$x,densCarrot$x)
ylim <- range(0,densCuke$y, densCarrot$y)
#pick the colours
carrotCol <- rgb(1,0,0,0.2)
cukeCol <- rgb(0,0,1,0.2)
## plot the carrots and set up most of the plot parameters
plot(densCarrot, xlim = xlim, ylim = ylim, xlab = 'Lengths',
     main = 'Distribution of carrots and cucumbers', 
     panel.first = grid())
#put our density plots in
polygon(densCarrot, density = -1, col = carrotCol)
polygon(densCuke, density = -1, col = cukeCol)
## add a legend in the corner
legend('topleft',c('Carrots','Cucumbers'),
       fill = c(carrotCol, cukeCol), bty = 'n',
       border = NA)

下面是我写的一个函数，它使用伪透明来表示重叠的直方图

plotOverlappingHist <- function(a, b, colors=c("white","gray20","gray50"),
                                breaks=NULL, xlim=NULL, ylim=NULL){

  ahist=NULL
  bhist=NULL

  if(!(is.null(breaks))){
    ahist=hist(a,breaks=breaks,plot=F)
    bhist=hist(b,breaks=breaks,plot=F)
  } else {
    ahist=hist(a,plot=F)
    bhist=hist(b,plot=F)

    dist = ahist$breaks[2]-ahist$breaks[1]
    breaks = seq(min(ahist$breaks,bhist$breaks),max(ahist$breaks,bhist$breaks),dist)

    ahist=hist(a,breaks=breaks,plot=F)
    bhist=hist(b,breaks=breaks,plot=F)
  }

  if(is.null(xlim)){
    xlim = c(min(ahist$breaks,bhist$breaks),max(ahist$breaks,bhist$breaks))
  }

  if(is.null(ylim)){
    ylim = c(0,max(ahist$counts,bhist$counts))
  }

  overlap = ahist
  for(i in 1:length(overlap$counts)){
    if(ahist$counts[i] > 0 & bhist$counts[i] > 0){
      overlap$counts[i] = min(ahist$counts[i],bhist$counts[i])
    } else {
      overlap$counts[i] = 0
    }
  }

  plot(ahist, xlim=xlim, ylim=ylim, col=colors[1])
  plot(bhist, xlim=xlim, ylim=ylim, col=colors[2], add=T)
  plot(overlap, xlim=xlim, ylim=ylim, col=colors[3], add=T)
}

下面是使用R对透明颜色的支持的另一种方法

a=rnorm(1000, 3, 1)
b=rnorm(1000, 6, 1)
hist(a, xlim=c(0,10), col="red")
hist(b, add=T, col=rgb(0, 1, 0, 0.5) )

最终的结果是这样的: