Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy | Page 4

this upon another
screen, by means of several lights, held by assistants. Thus each light
throws its own shadow, and if the candles are moved up and down, and
about, the shadows will dance, jump over each other, and do all sorts of
wonderful things. Robertson, and other public exhibitors, had quite
complicated arrangements of this kind, but they all acted on the same
principle. But all of those who exhibit to the public the freaks of light
are not as honest as Mr. Robertson. You may have heard of
Nostradamus, who also lived in Paris, but long before Robertson, and
who pretended to be a magician. Among other things, he asserted that
he could show people pictures of their future husbands or wives. Marie
de Medicis, a celebrated princess of the time, came to him on this
sensible errand, and he, being very anxious to please her, showed her,
in a looking-glass, the reflected image of Henry of Navarre, sitting
upon the throne of France. This, of course, astonished the princess very
much, but it need not astonish us, if we carefully examine the picture of
that conjuring scene.

[Illustration]
The mirror into which the lady was to look, was in a room adjoining
that in which Henry was sitting on the throne. It was placed at such an
angle that her face would not be reflected in it, but an aperture in the
wall allowed the figure of Henry to be reflected from a looking-glass,
hung near the ceiling, down upon the "magic" mirror. So, of course, she
saw his picture there, and believed entirely in the old humbug,
Nostradamus.
[Illustration]
But there are much simpler methods by which the vagaries of light may
be made amusing, and among the best of these are what are called
"Chinese shadows." These require a little ingenuity, but they are
certainly simple enough. They consist of nothing but a card or paper,
upon which the lights of the picture intended to be represented are cut
out. When this is held between a candle and a wall, a startling
shadow-image may be produced, which one would not imagine to have
any connection with the card, unless he had studied the manner in
which said card was cut. Here is a picture of a company amusing
themselves with these cards. No one would suppose that the card which
the young man is holding in his hand bore the least resemblance to a
lion's head, but there is no mistaking the shadow on the wall.
[Illustration]
The most wonderful public exhibitions of optical illusions have been
those in which a real ghost or spectre apparently moves across the stage
of a theatre. This has frequently been done in late years, both in this
country and Europe. The audiences were perfectly amazed to see a
spirit suddenly appear, walk about the stage, and act like a regular
ghost, who did not seem to be in the least disturbed when an actor fired
a pistol at him, or ran him through with a sword. The method of
producing this illusion is well shown in the accompanying picture. A
large plate of glass is placed in front of the stage so that the audience
does not perceive it. The edges of it must be concealed by curtains,
which are not shown in the picture. An actor, dressed as a ghost, walks

in front of the stage below its level, where he is not seen by the
audience, and a strong electric light being thrown upon him, his
reflected image appears to the spectator as if it were walking about on
the stage. When the light is put out of course the spirit instantly
vanishes.
[Illustration]
A very amusing account is given of a man who was hired to do some
work about a theatre. He had finished his work for the present, and
wishing to eat his supper, which he had brought with him, he chose a
nice quiet place under the stage, where he thought he would not be
disturbed. Not knowing that everything was prepared for the
appearance of a ghost, he sat down in front of the electric lamp, and as
soon as it was lighted the audience was amazed to see, sitting very
comfortably in the air above the stage, a man in his shirt-sleeves, eating
bread and cheese! Little did he think, when he heard the audience
roaring with laughter, that they were laughing at his ghost!
Light plays so many tricks with our eyes and senses that it is possible to
narrate but a few of them here. But those that I have mentioned are
enough to show us what a wild fellow he is, especially where he and
glass get frolicking together.

SAVING THE TOLL.
[Illustration]
When I was a youngster