National Republican., 1873-11-20
SCIENTIFIC MAGIC.
PROFESSOR PEPPERS SECOND LECTURE
The Romance Of Iisht-Briiiiant, Beau.
tifui and wonderfaI Espcrimcst--Op-
tieni IIiu.ios. Csnformsbio TO Exart
Laws of Science,

tifui snd wonderfai Rxpcrimc st.-Op-
tieni Iiinsiss. Csnformabio 10 RSact
Laws Of Science.
The second OF tho series OF lectures on the
"Magic Of Light and SOUND" by Professor j.
II. Pepper, Of London, delivered under the au.
spices Of the Star Lecture Association OF thl.
city, attracted large and appreciative audience
last night at Lincoln hail.
According to promise the Professor cortlnued
his observations on the phenomena OF light, and
az the EXPERIMENTS proved he fully developed
MS subject OF "scientnc magic" by Illustrations
Of the laws OF science, whIcn produced effects
that might almost be regarded as magical II moi
breternatnral, unless calmly examined BY tue
In answer again to the question, "what Ia
many were prevented BY me storm Of Monday
evening frofh hearing his 1rst lecture the Pro-
lessor produced an Imitation OF
cosMclL OR SOLAR LIGHT
by causing metal TO boil Violently anil emit
yapor, and as the brilliant light and intense
heat were gradually reduced, so II was supposed
by some earnest thinkers that the sun itself Is a
gigantic bubble, whose crust Is gradually thick
rning, and whose size IL diminishing.
Professor Young. one OF the most distinguished
observers Of tho physical nature OF the sun, con-
siders the material OF that lumnary to be gas.
eous, and that the gases arc shut In or enclosed
by some kind Of outer shell or crust Through
this envelope the heated and ever changing mat
ters, secthlng In the immense INNER cruclble
are constantly forcing their way outward so thai
prodgous volumes OF luminous gas, such as
hydrogen, are projected upwards to q height Of
seventy or eighty thousand miles, assuming as
they ny upward the most fantastic shapes These
nres have always been known as the cred
names, and u Is only by the aid Of "spectrum
cred.
As cosmical light meant that which was pro-
duced by bodies floating In space and exterior
to the earth, terrestrial light referred TO ordi
nary chemical changes proceeding within the
atmosphere OF our earth. The next brilliant ex.
pertinent, In which cloud Of dust composed OF
carbon and hydrogen was raDldly burnt, pro-
duced a name from seven TO ifteen feet In
iins type % Of he artiaciai light with @ which the
Ingenuity OF man endeavored to supply the alb
sence OF solar illumination.
The third condition OF light was derived from
SECONDARY LUMINOUS SOURCES.
The brilliancy of the moon and attendant satel-
lite, who waits 10 faithfully upon the earth, and
the light which comes from the planets belong
ing to the solar system were examples OF sec.
ondary luminous Gus sources, and the beautiful ex;
water, changing TO amber, blue or red at the
viii OF the lecturer, was an admirable iustra-
% ,lon Of ths % eefore-me5iioned principle, and the
rather column, Of falling water. The hypothesis
concerning the nature OF light, with a descrip-
was succeeded by Huyghen's s'unduiatory the
ory." Beautiful experiments, showing vibrat-
Ing medium, also the formation OF waves and
the propasation Of undulations through space,
illustrated and explained what might Otherwise
have been dnicult to comprehend.
Professor Pepper, having reminded his au-
aenSe v,.,n ,nat , in me story OF Persistence Of
the undnlatory theory OF light, would now oc-
cupy their attention with important facts, which
were realities, whether explained by the New
tonian or the nuyghenian theories OF light.
There was avery important fact which led TO
the science OF photometry, or mode OF estimating
the comparative Illuminating powers OF various
hof WQa thA
which light distributed itself. Light emanates
from every visible point Of luminous body, the
rays dlverging like radii drawn from the centre
OF circle, Just like the sticks Of ladys fan or
the spokes OF carriage wheel. As a natural
consequence the intensity of light decreases
enormously rs we increase our distance from
Tue luminous source, viz, inversely as the square
of the distance. This optical truth was curiously
Illustrated Dy shadows which, giving the outline
OF the human ngure, appeared to jump up TO the
lArity.
The smallest portion OF light We can separate
from bundle Of rays or beam Of light was called
pencil, OF ray, and provided It remained In the
same medium Of the same density il pursued a
perfectly straight line, but II it passed out OF
mat medium into another OF q different density,
could be disposed Of In four different ways, as Il
could be reflected, refracted, absorbed or polar
After fully explaining
THE LAWS OF REFLECTION,
they were practically demonstrated by q series
OF interesting experiments with variety OF re.
necting surfaces, plain, ,concave and convex, and
Wa clearly shown that Professor Peppers far
FAMED spectral Illusion called the ghost was al
embodiment and development OF the exact law
OF science, already so fully shown. Much hat
been done In ancient times with rejecting sur
races. Archimedes Is said to have burnt the ship
OF MArcelus BY an ARA cement OF mirrors, viii
Mnich ne collected the rays OF the sun aud di
reeteu sasm on the the sides OF the vessels.
Athanasius klrcber, Who adorned science will
80 many learned experiments, went with hi,
pupil Scheiyer to Syracuse, TO ascertain by
actual observation and measurement whethei
AIcnimedes could have performed the expert
ment ascribed to him, and he estimated that the
selentinc ieat was performed at q distance O
apoSs, apous .nty PAGES and that i was highl!
the concentration Of the rays OF the sun breugh
into locus or fireplace by o series OF ma
mesalic mag mirrors. The celebrated naturalis
buuoh constructed compound mirror OF ID
pieces OF looking glass, eight inches by six, an,
easily melted silver with his instrument, Mon
sieur peyrard, stu more ambitious, proposed u
construct one OF 800 circles OF looking glass
each twenty inches In diameter, and with thii
large collection OF rays he estimated that
woouen snip could be set on lre At distance o.
aguarter OF league.
For long time the scientific men Of Englant
animed that Professor Pepper produced tn,
gnost win a concaye mirror, but they were al
wrong. In lighthouses the parabolic form o
mirror was used for throwing the rays Of light !,
great distance, and Mons. villale constructed |
palaoolic and concaye mirror OF speculum metal
III.
local length OF thirty-eight inches and with hi,
Ienector he melted q bit of Pompeys pillar II
nl,y SECONDS, slxpence In seven and half. a
copper half-penny aud cist-lron In sixteen, and
sIAte IN three seconds. The laws OF renec lion
were iurther and most admirably illustrated with
SIR DAVID BREwsrERs "KALKIDEscoPE"
brewster did not, apparently, know how to
pn'J p,oJset Inese hsures on disc 50 that 4 large
nunoer OF persons might see them. This had
Deen lett for Professor Pepper TO perfect and
ai aI.eL sonie months OF perseyering work he sue.
Se9 nr,ia ~ discovering the manner OF success
On the DISC. by means OF powerful light pro-
!ected IN peculiar manner the most beautiful
aorns , were obtained from different objects, such
a. .he nhgets, Key, comb, o collection or pins
,s sna neesles, and portions OF glass broken with
@ she @coneholdal fracture, which looked Ike emer-
Aids, rubies, sapphlres and topazes
As further exemplncation OF the laws OF re-
pectlon PROFESSOR Pepper illustrated the story Of
irygnaiion and his ivory statue with the ghost
,nuslon, ,i, AND charmed the audience with an ex-
ReInhent Which At once refreshed their classical
knowledge and pleased their eyes with q lovely
Saiatea, sa, VINO appeared and melted away At the
command OF the Professor.
THE LAWS OF REfRAcTIos
were now carefully demonstrated, and by n yery
Tenned and telling experiment the audience
soulu see now q ray OF light was bent from ia
NATURAL course as II passed from the rare medIum.
synthass ,he n aenser one, water. The snAysls and
yntnesls OF ray OF light succeeded the refrac-
@ @uoh experiment, and the different properties of
sII,dep e iespeeuys portions OF the solar spectrum
,ioiessOr StOkts experiments
suoMn win Uranium glass and curious noWer
painsu u LOT the lecturer by Professor Morton, OF
ae sae stssens institute, Hoboken, and many other
neaole experiments were introduced, As
saspeva, sp example OF refracton the Professor in
.rouueed MS new Instrument called the grim
GIsd.dp dsyope and caused the Right Honorable WIN.
% %oaastone anu his political rival, the Right Hon
orable benjamin Dsraeli, to no thrvngh the
most etctuCiating facial changes,
IA, ihe ne various beautiful experiments presented
pI une Professor 10 the course OF his interesting
Ieu,uie ,e We're much admired by his Intelligent
pause. o1''ui''' VI up
Lne learned lecturer concluded with the Gu.
lluus Bnost story OF the skeleton Haunted
student, student" which admirably Illustrated that re.
n,an MaiAaDle Illusion, and showed how much gen
~ uane amusement, and not absurd terror. could
DC Afforded by real ghost, ''' S'1''
lo,lnoiroW night Professor Pepper will lee
se ts ~, on ,ne holnancc OF Acoustics,r said 10 be
,ns,rno, entertaining OF the very pleasing and
nsIucuve series with which, through The
1sva en,y oi lne star Lecture Association, he has
Moied h our citizens. We trust he will have.
What nus meritorlOus lectures 40 well deserve q
crowded audience. '''s' d"
bEArTlfUL GLASSWARE.