Mrs. B. Because the rays do not enter the mirror by a small aperture, and cross each other, as they do at the orifice of a camera obscura, or the pupil of the eye.
When you view yourself in a mirror, the rays from your eyes fall perpendicularly upon it, and are reflected in the same line; the image is, therefore, described behind the glass, and is situated in the same manner as the object before it.
Emily. Yes, I see that it is; but the looking-glass is not nearly so tall as I am, how is it, therefore, that I can see the whole of my figure in it?
Mrs. B. It is not necessary that the mirror should be more than half your height, in order that you may see the whole of your person in it, ([fig. 3.]) The ray of light A B, from your eye, which falls perpendicularly on the mirror B D, will be reflected back, in the same line; but the ray from your feet, will fall obliquely on the mirror, for it must ascend in order to reach it; it will, therefore, be reflected in the line A D: and since we view objects in the direction of the reflected rays, which reach the eye, and since the image appears at the same distance, behind the mirror, that the object is before it, we must continue the line A D to E, and the line C D to F, at the termination of which, the image will be represented.
Emily. Then I do not understand why I should not see the whole of my person in a much smaller mirror, for a ray of light from my feet would always reach it, though more obliquely.
Mrs. B. True; but the more obliquely the ray falls on the mirror, the more obliquely it will be reflected; the ray would, therefore, be reflected above your head, and you could not see it. This is shown by the dotted line ([fig. 3.])
Now stand a little to the right of the mirror, so that the rays of light from your figure may fall obliquely on it——