Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-03
POINTS ABOUT MuRRoRa
What They Used to BE and How They Came
to BE What They Are.
TTyur EApIrC ST AfppapS IN cxrroxs


to BE What They Are.
THE EARLIEST MIRRORS OF WHICH
L mention is made in history. SO a STAR re-
porter is informed were in use among the
1sraelites in the time Of Moses. That gentle
man. as recorded in the Bible. commanded in q
certain emergency that these articles should be
transformed into washbasins for the priests
They were made OF brass. Doubtless simiiar
utensils of this and other materials were in use
long before that At that same period black
glass was employed for the purpose, az well a.
transparent glass with black foil on the back
1t is related that the spaniards found mirrors
Of polished black stone. both convex and con-
cave, among the natives of south America
The mirrors Of the ancient Greeks and ROM
ans were thin disks OF bronze. highly polished
and usually fashioned with handles. though
sometimes they were set upright on stands.
Later on silver was used. and the first mirror
OF solid silver is said to have been made by
Prsxiteies IN the time OF Julius Cesar Subse-
quentiy silver mirrors took the place Of brass
or bronze ones almost altogether. though steel.
copper and even gold were also employed
Looking glasses of metal were employed
everywhere up to the fifteenth century.
POCKET AND aIRDLr MIRRORS
From the twelfth to the fifteenth century
small mirrors carried in the pocket or attached
10 the girdlc were regarded "a Indispensable
adjancts to l.dies' toilets The pocket mirror
was circular plaque Of polished metal fixed
In shallow box and covered with lid. Ivory
was usually the material of such cases. and m
q rule. thew were carved in relief with repre-
senta;ions OF love, domestic nee, hunting
sports and the like. Gold, silver enamels and
ebony were likewise used rs materials. The
sort Of mirror worn at the girdle had no cover.
bat was provided with short handle.
In the middle ages, when steel and silver
mirrors were almost exclusively used.a method
OF backing glass for the same purpose with
thin sheets OF metal was known. Small convex
mirrors OF glass were made in Germany before
the sixteenth century and were in deme nd
until comparatively modern times. They were
produced by blowing small glass globes, into
Which. while they were hot. was passed through
apipe mixture OF tin, sntimeny and resin.
When the globe was coated INSIDE il was al
lowed to cool and was aftefwsrd cut into con-
vex lenses, which formed small but we'll defined
images.
THE FIRST GLASS MIRROR FACTORY.
Early In the sixteenth century msnufactery
OF glass mirrors ives first esta blished on q COM
mercial scale in Venice and the republic en-
joyed monopoly of this very profitable busi-
ness for 100 years. The makers OF looking
glasses formed an important corporation
among Themselves and were allowed unusual
privileges. Their process was to blow oylin-
ders OF glass, which we're afterwarI fattened
upona stone. carefully polished and silvered
on the back with an amalgam. In this way
quite large ones were produced, sometimes
measuring as much as four feet in length. The
secret was carefully guarded, and the laws
were enforced which declared that any work
man at the trade who carried his art to a for
ei6n state must return upon requisition on PEN
nj NJ rs,,,a l.
II, Notwithstanding this penalty. he refused 10
return, eniissaries were sent to kill him. Never
theless, In lC65 Colbert at that time prime
minister OF France. imported from Venice
twenty makers OF looking glasses, who set up
their business in the Fauberg st. Antoine. Be
fore long the French mirrors excelled the We
nit;an, and fresh impulse was given to the
art in 1891 by the discovery of a process for
making plate glass From that time to this
the looking glasses made in France have been
the best In the world.
Hand mirrors Of metal are still in common
use in oriental countries. In China and Japan
they are usually made OF bronze. slightly con-
yex. and about twelve inches in diameter.
The Japanese woman who is so fortunate as to
own mirror regards it as the most precious
OF her posse ssions. There is an ancient myth
to the effect that the Japanese san goddess
once became angry and shut herself up in her
cave SO that all the earth was dark. To entice
her from her concealment the other gods tried
various articles, but all in vain, until il oc-
CURED to them to construct a mirror by
which. when the sun goddess saw her face in
1t, she was drawn forth through jealousy and
curiosity. When the Japanese empire first
caine into existence the sun goddess gave the
mirror to her grandson. saying: Look upon
this as my spirit. keep il in the same house
with yourself and worship il as if it were my
actual presence" This mirror is TO this dav
The most important article in the imperial
Iegalia of Japan.
MIRRORS WITH MAGIC QUALITIES.
Some Japanese mirrors are supposed to pos
sess magic quality, which has rendered them
objects of saperstitious reverence for centuries,
anu in fact, it has even puzzled modern science
not a little. When a strong beam of light is SO
reflected from one of them as to be thrown
upon screen there appears upon the screen
an image IN delicate uacery perfectly repro
ducing the pattern engraved in relief on the
back OF the mirror, which of course is alto
gether hidden from the light. Inasmuch as
the lace OF the mirror presents a surface that
is perfectly smooth apparently the reason for
this phenomenon lis difficult TO find. Its cause,
however. Is simple enough. The preliminary
operation of polishing the face consists in scor-
rectiou. The thicker portions, where the orna-
mentation in relief is on the back, offer more
resistance and the result is q corresponding in
equality of the polished surface. This in
equality is not sufficiently marked to be visible
TO the naked eve, but it is enough to turn the
rays of light, and thus the pattern Of the en-
craving on the back is Reproduced on the
screen in the manner described. These So
called magic mirrors are so highly valued that
they sell for from ten to twenty times the
prices paid for ordinary ones.