The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-12-13
THR RISE OF THE lARROR.
HOW II HAS INFLUENCED THE
HUMAN RACE THOUGH AGES.

HUMAN RACE THROUGH AGES.
Ets Part IN ths History az Manhirsd--
nIirrors In Early Times Iiand mirrors
used Bsfers inc Time Of chriw,-Ths
First Glass MIRRORS How Brsde.
In the Vice Presidents room in the
White House hang two mirrors, one his
toric, the other philosophical, n you
happen 10 look at II that way. The his
toric mirror II an old fashioned gilt
framed glass, about two fest By fourteen
inches, bought In Van Buren's time.
This mirror cost the sum Of f25, and such
q storm Of protest against such extrava-
gance was raised whom the purchase was
made a. would have given Senator Hol-
man large and luminous points on the
management of his own economics. One
Congressman even won't so far rs 70 de-
clare on tho floor Of the House that he
had combed his hair for fifty years before
q FIVE by eight inch glass;, and had lived
to have voice In the ruling OF nations,
and that neithor be nor his commitments
would submit to be taxed to support e25
worth Of vanity IN Vice. President.
The philosophic mirror hangs opposite
II was bought recently and cost twenty
timea NJ much as the first ono and not .
protest was made when the bill was paid.
This n what makes the mirror philo-
sophie. II reflects tho higher estimate
put on personal vanity as men and women
grow wiser. The philosophy can also be
extended to cover some consideration OF
the part that mirrors have played In the
history OF the human race. Those peo-
pie who lived before the days OF ANAL
gam backed glasses must have had con-
siderable intellectual exercise thinking
out substitutes. No doubt this was what
L Pharaoh's daughter was about when she
went down to tho Nile and picked up q
floating Moses. II poor Narcfssus had
lived In those days ten-cent mirror
would have taken the place OF tho pool
into which he fell and sad calamity
would have been averted.
Il was probably because OF such incon-
venient occurrences rs these that people
began to employ metallic surfaces instead
OF CLASSY pools Of water for purposes OF
reflection. Atany rate, they soon got TO
using shields and other highly FURNISHED
su Races, and one OF tho principal toilet
articles among Egyptians came to DO
mirrors of mixed metal, chiefly copper,
and attached to richly ornamented ham
figures.
A historian has 1t that as early as four
centuries before Christ these metal
mirrors were In such common use among
the Romans that any maid-servant could
have as many rs she could hang at her
girdle, which probably accounts for the
fact that they gradually fell into desue=-
tude among ladies of the higher classes
and led to the Introduction Of Substitutes.
II 10 hardly to be supposed, however, that
1t was this fact which induced some in
genious person 30 to cut and FURNISH the
inside OF drinking cups as to reflect the
face OF the drinker many times In a high
warning manner.
In addition to the small hand mirrors
which it used to be the particular duty
OF some unfortunate young slave to hold
before her mistress, there were panels Of
stone set In the walls and 80 highly pol
ished as to serve as mirrors. IL was this
use Of dark stone that first suggested the
use glass for rejecting purposes, which,
according to Pliny, was first manufac-
tured Mt the glass works of q gentleman
named Sidon. Black glass was first used,
afterwards clear glass with black foil on
the back replaced 1t. Piiny tells us all
about this, and from this time no mention
| Il made of glass mirrors until the thir-
teenth century, when franciscan monk,
Johannes Peckham, speaks Of mirrors,
not only OF polls he'd marble and steel,
but also OF glass covered with lead ON the
back. BY this time the amaigam used In
making glass mirrors was much like that
of to- day, the difference being in the
method OF its application. The process
was to spread tinfoil on aplain surface,
| TO pour mercury over that and rub the
two together with the hand or with a
hare's foot. The amalgam thus formed
was then covered with paper, over which
glass was laid. The paper was then with
drawn and weights pressed on the glass,
pressing out the excess of mercury.
The Venetian mirrors Of the sixteenth
century are the most celebrated ones.
These were OF the finest glass, with set
tings OF silver and gold richly chased and
set with jewels.
II would be interesting to consider
some OF the effects upon the world at
large If mirrors had never been invented.
1t is certain that the mortality by drown
ing would have been increased, such is
the vanity OF the human breast. There is
no doubt that the present fastidiousness
in matters of dress is largely the result of
the faithful reflection of the looking
glass. How could woman bother her
self about the set OF her gown in the back
II she had no looking glass to tell her she
had baek--a thing which, being herself
in front, as the little girl in Punch used
to say, she would not otherwise sus-
pect.--N. Y World.