LONDON:
JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN,
PICCADILLY.
1870.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| Introduction—History of the Kaleidoscope, | [ 1] | |
| Chap. I.— | Preliminary Principles respecting the Effects | |
| of combining two Plain Mirrors, | [ 9] | |
| II.— | On the Principles of the Kaleidoscope, and the | |
| Formation of Symmetrical Pictures by the | ||
| Combination of direct and inverted Images, | [16] | |
| III.— | On the Effects produced by the Motion of | |
| the Object and the Mirrors, | [26] | |
| IV.— | On the Effects produced upon the Symmetry of | |
| the Picture by varying the Position of the Eye, | [37] | |
| V.— | On the Effects produced upon the Symmetry of the | |
| Picture by varying the Position of the Object, | [46] | |
| VI.— | On the Intensity of the Light in | |
| different parts of the field, and on the Effects | ||
| produced by varying the length and breadth | ||
| of the Reflectors, | [51] | |
| VII.— | On the construction and use of the Simple | |
| Kaleidoscope, | [59] | |
| VIII.— | On the selection of Objects for the Kaleidoscope, | |
| and on the mode of constructing the Object-Box, | [67] | |
| IX.— | On the Illumination of Transparent Objects | |
| in the Kaleidoscope, | [76] | |
| X.— | On the construction and use of the Telescopic | |
| Kaleidoscope, for viewing Objects at a Distance, | [81] | |
| XI.— | On the construction and use of Polyangular | |
| Kaleidoscopes, in which the Reflectors can be | ||
| fixed at any Angle, | [88] | |
| 1. Bate’s Polyangular Kaleidoscope with Metallic Reflectors, | [89] | |
| 2. Bate’s Polyangular Kaleidoscope with Glass Reflectors, | [94] | |
| XII.— | On the construction and use of annular and | |
| parallel Kaleidoscopes, | [98] | |
| 1. Mr. Dollond’s Universal Kaleidoscope, | [100] | |
| 2. Ruthven’s Universal Kaleidoscope, | [102] | |
| XIII.— | On the Construction and Use of Polycentral | |
| Kaleidoscopes, | [105] | |
| 1. On combinations of four mirrors forming a square, | [107] | |
| 2. On combinations of four mirrors forming a rectangle, | [109] | |
| 3. On combinations of three reflectors at angles of 60°, | [109] | |
| 4. On combinations of three reflectors at angles of 90°, 45°, and 45°, | [111] | |
| 5. On combinations of three reflectors at angles of 90°, 60°, and 30°, | [112] | |
| XIV.— | On Kaleidoscopes in which the Effect is produced | |
| by Total Reflexion from the interior surfaces | ||
| of Transparent Solids, | [114] | |
| XV.— | On the application of the Kaleidoscope to the Magic | |
| Lantern, Solar Microscope, and Camera Obscura, | [117] | |
| XVI.— | On the construction of Kaleidoscopes which | |
| combine the Colours and Forms produced by | ||
| Polarized Light, | [122] | |
| XVII.— | On the construction of Stereoscopic Kaleidoscopes, | [126] |
| XVIII.— | On the construction of Microscopic Kaleidoscopes, | [128] |
| XIX.— | On the Changes produced by the Kaleidoscope, | [131] |
| XX.— | On the application of the Kaleidoscope to the | |
| Fine and Useful Arts, | [134] | |
| 1. Architectural Ornaments, | [137] | |
| 2. Ornamental Painting, | [141] | |
| 3. Designs for Carpets, | [144] | |
| XXI.— | On the photographic delineation of the | |
| pictures created by the Kaleidoscope, | [148] | |
| XXII.— | On the Advantages of the Kaleidoscope as an | |
| Instrument of Amusement, | [154] | |
| XXIII.— | History of the Combinations of Plane Mirrors | |
| which have been Supposed to Resemble the | ||
| Kaleidoscope, | [162] | |
| 1. Baptista Porta’s multiplying speculum, | [164] | |
| 2. Kircher’s combination of plane mirrors, | [168] | |
| 3. Bradley’s combination of plane mirrors, | [175] | |
| Appendix, | [185] | |
ON THE KALEIDOSCOPE.
INTRODUCTION.
HISTORY OF THE KALEIDOSCOPE.
The name Kaleidoscope, which I have given to a new Optical Instrument, for creating and exhibiting beautiful forms, is derived from the Greek words χαλός, beautiful; εἶδος, a form; and σχοπέω, to see.
The first idea of this instrument presented itself to me in the year 1814, in the course of a series of experiments on the polarization of light by successive reflexions between plates of glass, which were published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1815, and which the Royal Society did me the honour to distinguish by the adjudication of the Copley Medal. In these experiments, the reflecting plates were necessarily inclined to each other during the operation of placing their surfaces in parallel planes; and I was therefore led to remark the circular arrangement of the images of a candle round a centre, and the multiplication of the sectors formed by the extremities of the plates of glass. In consequence, however, of the distance of the candles, &c., from the ends of the reflectors, their arrangement was so destitute of symmetry, that I was not induced to give any farther attention to the subject.
On the 7th of February 1815, when I discovered the development of the complementary colours, by the successive reflexions of polarized light between two plates of gold and silver, the effects of the Kaleidoscope, though rudely exhibited, were again forced upon my notice; the multiplied images were, however, coloured with the most splendid tints; and the whole effect, though inconceivably inferior to the creations of the Kaleidoscope, was still far superior to anything that I had previously witnessed.