Page:The wonders of optics (1869).djvu/215

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
OTHER OPTICAL ILLUSIONS.
207

image of the objects to be looked at. This mirror sends the image downwards to another placed diagonally at C, a third being placed at D, and a fourth at B. The How to see through a Brick.
Fig. 59.—How to see through a Brick.
horizontal ray, meeting the mirror at A, is consequently bent downwards to C, then travels horizontally to D, when it is reflected upwards to B, in which it is seen by the eye. Of course a simple tube without any lenses at all would serve the same purpose, but the fact of its being a telescope serves to distract the attention of the too curious observer.

Another illusion of the same kind is often practised at fancy fairs and bazaars, when a spectator looking into what he supposes to be an ordinary looking-glass, sees his companions instead of himself. The way in which this is effected is very simple. A looking-glass is placed diagonally across a square box, the apertures in the sides being so arranged that the spectator does not perceive that he is looking into a glass that is placed at an angle. Of course the exhibitor endeavours to