The Magic Lantern.
We are all familiar with the Magic Lantern, whether it may take the form of the mere child’s toy, be developed into Dissolving Views, or throw black shadows on a curtain, in which case it is called by the name of Chinese Shadows. In all these cases the principle is the same. First we have a light behind the object whose reflection is to be seen. Next we have the object itself, and lastly the surface upon which it is reflected. As to the variety of mirrors, lamps, and lenses which are used to produce different effects, we may put them aside as foreign to our present purpose.
Generally the object is reflected upon a white curtain or sheet, but sometimes, when a specially weird-like effect is needed, a cloud of thick smoke takes the place of the sheet, and upon it the reflection is shown, as seen in the accompanying illustration.
Nature has her Magic Lanterns as well as Art, and wonderful things they are sometimes, the well-known Brocken Spectre being an excellent example. It is not, however, necessary to visit the Brocken in order to see this apparition, for I have seen it in perfection in England.
Many years ago, when living in Wiltshire, I went before daybreak to the top of a very high conical hill. The morning mist was so thick that I could scarcely see my way up the hill. When I reached the summit, I stood there for some time, trying to see the landscape, but the mist was so thick that I could barely tell the points of the horizon by the brighter look cast by the coming Day in the east.
I was looking westward, when suddenly the sun rose behind me, and I saw the Brocken Spectre as I have sketched it in the accompanying illustration. It was a gigantic shadow of myself, projected on the mist, just as a Magic Lantern projects the image on a sheet or a smoke-cloud. Of course my gestures were repeated, and it really looked almost awful to see this gigantic spectral figure set in the mist.
Perhaps the most extraordinary part of it was the enormous halo of rainbow colours round the head. No matter where I moved, the halo surrounded the head of the image, its colours being comparatively bright near the centre, and becoming gradually paler towards the circumference.
Another point about this natural Magic Lantern ought to be mentioned.
Wishing to show a friend the extraordinary sight of a Brocken Spectre, I took him up the hill on a misty day like that which has been briefly described. According to surmise, two spectres appeared instead of one, but the halo was not doubled as well as the shadow. I could see my friend’s shadow, and he could see mine. But, although the halo was as bright as before, each of us could only see it encircling his own head. We stood as close to each other as we could, we moved apart as far as the nearly conical top of the hill would allow, and in both cases each of us could only see his own halo.
Perhaps the reader may remember the wonderful spectre-scene drawn by Mr. Whymper, and viewed from the Matterhorn just after the accident which had killed several of his companions in the ascent of the hitherto impregnable peak. In the mist there suddenly appeared three vast dark crosses enclosed in an oval. Considering the highly-strung nerves of the survivors, it was no wonder that they were all shaken by such an appearance, and that the guides were for a time too frightened to proceed.