The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-18
MAGIC MIRRORS.
Nhe E1ango Survival OF @ r1od.oc-
val Custom.
AN Ancscnt pcilcf That tho Absent Could
& 30 vfcwcd Through tho Agency or
Gao 6pocurum Tho Mysterious
Egyptian Ink Mirror.

Gao Spcourum Tho Mysterious
Egyptian Ink Mirror.
1--WE see ns In glass, darby" snyn
xhe npestlc, but the general persuasion
,of mankind has long been that VIC may
8ee, In a glass, quite clearly. persons
and objects far removed by tirac md
space, eS,ys the London News In some
notes Of kr. Couston's to Chnuocr's
Is' Squirrels Tale" published by the
Chauccr Society, there is an int resting
essay on the magic mirrors which re-
veal the dissent. belief so common in
mcdhpvol tirncs is not likely to have
wanted prcccdcnts in the ancient world
The spcculuco is the natural home of
the gPoctra- Mr.. Clouston Is only able
no give ono classical instance, from
Pcusaulus. who wrote q guide book 70
nnciont Grcccc. II is tho twcpty-1rst
chapter of his seventh book. whore he
says that the hchpans, after urlsing
,ecrtain fumigations. let down mirror
into the holy we'll OF Dcnctcr; they
&hen looked into the mirror and dis
cerncd whether sick person would
live or die. Mr.. Clouston says they SOW
faces, healthy or distcmo crcd. in TIE
mirror, n circumstance not mentioned
10y Thomas Taylor in his old trans
Cation. The famous mirror in which
Surrey saw fair Geraldine is discrcditcd
fby Mr.. C'oustou, who docs not rely on
THE directions givcu in RcTipald SCOTS
s"Discovcry Of Witchcraft," written in
1854, O classical text with which nc docs
mot seem to be acquainted. Any NOM
lber of the Psychicnl Society may try
the experiment for himself. IN the first
place he must conciliate his rood &c
niua Then re rctircs into his closet
with little table and silk carpet md
hwo waxcn candles lighted. rs MISC with
IA crystal triangular stone ''about tfe
sguaDtity of IN apple" Then. after n
prayer, he must sprinkle every thing
with his owp blood. and utter n mario
ahnrm or two. and finally sit down
with Bible in one hand and n crystal
an the other The spirit CONES in about
o quarter OF an hour. but tho curious
Thing is that various pictures 0rat ap-
pear In the glass. beginning with
beaten track or road. travellers. shop
herd with sheep, strange cprccranecs.
noises, chances and afTrirhtrncnts.
which shows will all ct iaGt vanish on
GIN 0l'lJCuh iLOS VI b-lS trSIll.S. INNCn
things DR.. Dec may have behold in his
crystal. ct least if we believe Goe!wia
I'm HRS Lives of the Nccromanccrs." not
exactly contemporary authority ha-
cordin3 70 Joachim Camcrnrius. quoted
by Mr. Clorston. the spectator r1ust bc
Young boy. or person Of tho purrst
life. Granvii quotes u case 81 one
Compton. who showed certain Mr..
Hill hts wife in lookinG-gl"ss. Scott
uses the kiea in my Aunt NIarrarct's
Mirror but the great masters OF this
art are the modern Egyptians.
Curiousty enough. and too late for
Mr. CfouHton's use, Sir Walter Scott
aells Tong tale Of the Egyptian ink
mirror tn his diary for October. 1871.
lie YVES then in London. where people
were talking Of the mystery on the cvi-
dence Of Lord pridhoe. whom 7
know rs an honorable man." At Cairo
Lord Prudhoe heard Of magician
i'from the interior OF Africa" who gave
nm instance of his powers I4ori Prud-
noe chose Nubian boy. in whose hand
The naTician drew kind OF pentacIc in
nnh. Through this, 'as II the substance
OF the hand had been removed" the
!pCJ cSbW WnuU was asker Tor.
As In AchBa Of old. there were FIRST
Sumigattons Of incense, then Gags and n
sultan appeared. These, as in
Reginald SCOTS account, were more
preliminary apparitions Then Shake
speare wns asked for, and described in
accordance with his portraits. Then
.atha brother of one Of the English
spectators was correctly described; no
had lost ON arm, and this was men
toned. In Malta Sir Walter made in
quiries, and found that Shakespeare
lfsheiifh SPAR! originally showed in tho
.compleSion of an Arab On the whole.
Sir Walter thought the whole affair an
1Inpo5ture- Six years later. in his
Egyptian book, Mr.. Lane seemed moro
sredulous- he gives long account OF
the affair. The boy first sees n man
sweeping, then procession of lars.
then the Sultan; finally he saw ind cor
reetly described Lord Nelson: "IIc has
mot lost HIS left arm, II is placed to his
lbrcast." where Nelson pinned his
empty sleeve. Mr.. Lane was puzzled;
mot 80 Mr.. Kinglal1e, who tells in
Eothen" how he asked for Kcatc, tho
famed Elton headmaster, who was dc.
scrihed as u beautiful girl with golden
haiT-a very bad shot at some non-ex-
a5tent Hata- Mr.. Clouston has found
airnilar rites in Southern India The
Maoyics Of New Zealand characteristics
ally use drop of blood instead Of ink.
IN Southern India not q man but
'monlfeys sweep the floor rs O prclim-
mary vision. The interesting point in
al this fnrrago is tho coincidence OF
human beliefs. Plainly enough. If any
thing Is seen at all, it is because tho
spectator has hypnotizcd by staring mt
tf,e little pool of ink. the crystal. or