BY SIR DAVID BREWSTER, LL.D., F.R.S. SEVENTH EDITION. LONDON: WILLIAM TEGG AND Co., 85, QUEEN STREET. CHEAPSIDE. 1856....

The secret use which was thus made of scientific discoveries and of remarkable inventions, has no doubt prevented many of them from reaching the present times; but though we are very ill informed respecting the progress of the ancients in various departments of the physical sciences, yet we have sufficient evidence that almost every branch of knowledge had contributed its wonders to the magician’s budget, and we may even obtain some insight into the scientific acquirements of former ages, by a d

The eye the most important of our organs—Popular description of it—The eye is the most fertile source of mental illusions—Disappearance of objects when their images fall upon the base of the optic nerve—Disappearance of objects when seen obliquely—Deceptions arising from viewing objects in a faint light—Luminous figures created by pressure on the eye, either from external causes or from the fulness of the blood-vessels—Ocular spectra or accidental colours—Remarkable effects produced by intense l

2. The next illusion which occurred to Mrs. A. was of a more alarming character. On the 30th of December, about four o’clock in the afternoon, Mrs. A. came down stairs into the drawing-room, which she had quitted only a few minutes before, and on entering the room she saw her husband, as she supposed, standing with his back to the fire. As he had gone out to take a walk about half an hour before, she was surprised to see him there, and asked him why he had returned so soon. The figure looked fix

One of the simplest instruments of optical deception is the plane mirror, and when two are combined for this purpose it has been called the magician’s mirror. An observer in front of a plane mirror sees a distinct image of himself; but if two persons take up a mirror, and if the one person is as much to one side of a line perpendicular to the middle of it as the other is to the other side, they will see each other, but not themselves. If we now suppose MC, CD, NC, CD to be the partitions of two

The best method of observing this deception is to view the engraved seal of a watch with the eyepiece of an achromatic telescope, or with a compound microscope, or any combination of lenses which inverts the objects that are viewed through it. 11 The depression in the seal will immediately appear an elevation, like the wax impression which is taken from it; and though we know it to be hollow, and feel its concavity with the point of our finger, the illusion is so strong that it continues to appe

In the year 1798, M. Jordan saw the same phenomenon at sunrise, and under similar circumstances, but with less distinctness, and without any duplication of the figures. 15 Phenomena perfectly analogous to the preceding, though seen under less imposing circumstances, have been often witnessed. When the spectator sees his own shadow opposite to the sun upon a mass of thin fleecy vapour passing near him, it not only imitates all his movements, but its head is distinctly encircled with a halo of lig

An exhibition of the very same kind has been brought forward in our own day, under the name of the Invisible Girl ; and as the mechanism employed was extremely ingenious, and is well fitted to convey an idea of this class of deceptions, we shall give a detailed description of it. The machinery, as constructed by M. Charles, is shown in fig. 37 in perspective, and a plan of it in Fig. 38. The four upright posts A, A, A, A, are united at top by a cross rail B, B, and by two similar rails at bottom

If we now touch the vibrating string A´ B lightly with the finger, or with a feather at the middle point C, Fig. 40, it will give out a more acute but fainter sound than before, and while the extent of its vibrations is diminished, their frequency is doubled. In like manner, if we touch the string A´´ B´´, Fig. 40, at a point C, so that A´´ C is one-third of A´´ B´´, the note will be still more acute, and correspond to thrice the number of vibrations. All this might have been expected; but the w

The permanence of character thus impressed upon speech exists only in those regions to whose atmosphere our vocal organs are adapted. If either the speaker or the hearer is placed in air differing greatly in density from that to which they are accustomed, the voice of the one will emit different sounds, or the same sounds will produce a different impression on the ear of the other. But if both parties are placed in this new atmosphere, their tones of communication will suffer the most remarkable

Mechanical inventions of the ancients few in number—Ancient and modern feats of strength—Feats of Eckeberg particularly described—General explanation of them—Real feats of strength performed by Thomas Topham—Remarkable power of lifting heavy persons when the lungs are inflated—Belzoni’s feat of sustaining pyramids of men—Deception of walking along the ceiling in an inverted position—Pneumatic apparatus in the foot of the house-fly for enabling it to walk in opposition to gravity—Description of t

Mechanical automata of the ancients—Moving tripods—Automata of Dædalus—Wooden pigeon of Archytas—Automatic clock of Charlemagne—Automata made by Turrianus for Charles V.—Camus’s automatic carriage made for Louis XIV.—Degenne’s mechanical peacock—Vaucanson’s duck which ate and digested its food—Du Moulin’s automata—Baron Kempelen’s automaton chess-player—Drawing and writing automata—Maillardet’s conjurer—Benefits derived from the passion for automata—Examples of wonderful machinery for useful pur

Wonders of chemistry—Origin, progress, and objects of alchemy—Art of breathing fire—Employed by Barchochebas, Eunus, &c.—Modern method—Art of walking upon burning coals and red-hot iron, and of plunging the hands in melted lead and boiling water—Singular property of boiling tar—Workmen plunge their hands in melted copper—Trial of ordeal by fire—Aldini’s incombustible dresses—Examples of their wonderful power in resisting flame—Power of breathing and enduring air of high temperatures—Expe

Spontaneous combustion—In the absorption of air by powdered charcoal—and of hydrogen by spongy platinum—Dobereiner’s lamp—Spontaneous combustion in the bowels of the earth—Burning cliffs—Burning soil—Combustion without flame—Spontaneous combustion of human beings—Countess Zangari—Grace Pett—Natural fire-temples of the Guebres—Spontaneous fires in the Caspian Sea—Springs of inflammable gas near Glasgow—Natural light-house of Maracaybo—New elastic fluids in their cavities—of gems—Chemical operatio

It is a source of no inconsiderable gratification to find the anticipations with which the Family Library was commenced exceeded by its success, and the liberal patronage bestowed on it. The best proof of this is the fact that of many of the volumes more than 40,000 copies have been sold in this country alone. It has been warmly commended in the journals of Great Britain, in those of France, Germany, Italy, and other parts of Europe. Its general estimation is also proved by its having been repri

A NEW HISTORY OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS. By Sir Francis Palgrave . With Illustrative Woodcuts. This work (as the preface mentions) was intended in imitation of the Tales of my Grandfather . “Let me hope,” the author says, “that occasionally, whilst the younger branches find amusement in the tales and adventures here brought together, some of the older folks may not be unwilling to take this little summary in hand, as a temporary substitute for the unmanageable folios produced by the unwearied industry