The spectators being placed in the magic circle, are directed to look into the mirror; they may even be ordered singly to fetch a skull off the mantel-shelf beside the mirror, and whilst doing so to look full into the mirror, and then return to the circle. Absolute silence is enjoined, and soft music is now heard; the darkened room is lit up for the moment by a little yellow or green fire thrown on to the charcoal fire, and now looking into the mirror, it no longer reflects surrounding objects, but a picture, at first small and faint, and then gradually becoming large and clearer, is apparent. The picture is made visible by the confederate gently drawing the mirror from its position parallel with the frame to an angle of 45 degrees, and then throwing on from the side a picture from a magic-lantern. The picture is small and indistinct whilst the confederate holds it near the mirror and out of focus, but as he moves backwards and focuses the lenses, the picture gradually increases in size, and the reflecting angles having been well planned beforehand, only those in the circle will be able to see the picture, and great fun may be elicited from the magic mirror by pretending to tell the future fate of a very slim person, and introducing him by a succession of pictures which gradually assume a John Bull rotundity of figure, surrounded by dozens of children; whilst to young ladies who are engaged, a provoking picture of an old maid may be introduced; indeed, there is no end to the innocent fun that may be extracted from the magic mirror, and the whole plan of the delusion may be better understood by reference to the next picture. (Fig. 266.)
Fig. 266.
The magic mirror.
Plan of room. a a. The frame of the looking-glass. a b. Mirror put back to an angle of 45 degrees. c. The confederate who manages the lantern and shuts the glass to the frame after each fortune is told. d. The magic circle, to which the rays are reflected.
Monsieur Salverte very properly remarks that "man is credulous from his cradle to his tomb; but the disposition springs from an honourable principle, the consequences of which precipitate him into many errors and misfortunes.... The novelty of objects, and the difficulty of referring them to known objects, will not shock the credulity of unsophisticated men. There are some additional sensations which he receives without discussion, and their singularity is perhaps a charm which causes him to receive them with greater pleasure. Man almost always loves and seeks the marvellous. Is this taste natural?
Does it spring from the education which during many ages the human race has received from its first instructors? A vast and novel question, but with which I have nothing to do. It is sufficient to observe that as the lover of the wonderful always prefers the most surprising to the most natural account, this last has been too frequently neglected, and is irrevocably lost. Occasionally, however (and we shall cite more than one instance), simple truth has escaped from the power of oblivion. Credulous man may be deceived once, or more frequently; but his credulity is not a sufficient instrument to govern his whole existence. The wonderful excites only a transient admiration. In 1798, the French savans remarked with surprise how little the spectacle of balloons affected the indolent Egyptian.... But man is led by his passions, and particularly by hope and fear."
When parallel rays fall upon a convex mirror, they are scattered and dispersed in all directions, and the image of an object reflected in a convex mirror appears to be very small, being reduced in size because the reflected picture i m is nearer the surface of the mirror than the object a b. No. 1. (Fig. 267.)