The herald., 1894-08-05
MIRRORS AND MAGIC.
FROM THE CLEAR POOL DOWN TO
THE MODERN FRENCH PLATE.


Ancient Mirrors OF Metal, Which PIiny |
Claims Wcrp Preceded by Those of Glass.
Moro RDticrn History ON the Suhject-Be- |
lief In Magic Cures.
} II has often been said that with suffi |
eient a1nours OF research or ingenuity the
gnrm of al inventions could be traced to
eur first parents in the garden Of Eden.
10 one viii he surprised therefore, in
learning from Milton that no sooner had
Eve 1nsS opened her eyes upon the world
than she wandered of to a clear pool,
where she hung entranced over the refieo-
Eon of her own charms In one of her
subsequent giIilaiess confessions to Adam
nho declares Shab had not the voice Of God
ss-1ed her away to find companion in
kim and in dove for him to lose oil sight
oe self she would doubtless havo fingered
fhere, enamolsd with her own beauty,
and perphance have shared the tabled Mar
eissus' fate.
Nature's mirror, over which Eve hung
on1aptuped, failed to satisfy the demands
of her daughteTs, and human ingenuity
was soon called upon to produce a moro
eonvenient &ubstitute From the various
specimens of antique mirrors preserved in
museums iearned men have concluded
that the honDB Of this invention can justly
be asGribed To the Egyptians, who used
aighly polished looking glasses of brass,
iJronge or other METALS Those mentioned
In thB Pentatouch, where the Hebrew
women ara reported to have carried mir
rors out of Egypt and into the wilderness,
wuro small and round and furnished with
handles, which were more varied in form
and device than the looking glasses them
selves.
Although all the very ancient mirrors
now extant are OF metal, PhDy claims that
glass mirrors were found at Sidon, and
Praxitsles, the renowned Greek sculptor,
who lived four centuries before Christ IS
the supposed discoverer of the utility of sill
vor as reflective medium in the manu-
faoturo of choice mirrors Previous to his
time and to the introduction of the metal
lie Egyptian looking glasses, in mythio
ages, we find that Polyphenus, the one
eyed Cyclopa, could perform his toilet sat
fsfactcrily only when the surface of the sea
was perfectly smooth. The demigod Or
hero sPerseus, In his search for Medusa, the
Gorgcn whose glance had the power Of
tur1iing tho behoifier TO stone, carefully
held his shield tn front of him and only
saw the retlsctiOn OF the CHASTITY snake
aocked head, which he successfully severed
and bore -awsy in Triumph.
From caElaosb ttsnes magic properties
have baen aSeEated to certain mirroTs, and
the Thessalian soofhsayers and witches
have even been reported to have possessed
magic looking glasses, by whose subtle
agency they could compel the moon-that
great lnirror-te ieaveher exalted position
In the sky and descend to earth.
Stin farther east in Japan, the "Land
of the Rising Sum-" the mirror has been
ussd for many centuries and Is one of the
requisite arti, ,aes for divine worship. En-
blematio of the purity of the worshiper
and Of tho transparency of his motives in
proffertng his requests, the mirror was
formerly laid before the altar near which
the faithful votary stood to recite his
prayers.
AS tho years rolied on, and eastern CIV
ilizatim ggradunlly made its way into the
berbarous wKsst the demand for mirrors
of all shapes and sizes rapidly increased,
end an old caTpniclar Of the days of Char
1emagnerst1tas that they were then used
by ell cfaasns, Hnd that even the olergy had
adopted the prexaihng fashion, some of
the holy menwearing small MIRRORS set in
their shoes, t1ras they might incessantly
contamp4ate ehebes1ty Of their vestments
Six hundred years aa%sr, In the four
teenth century, The nISt glass mirrors
were manufactured in Europe, ab the cele-
brstcd glass works ON tho island Of Mu-
rano q,sar Venice and this-astabishment
long 1nnnopolized the righh OF producing
those AIIirles-0f cCmTEgce. Compared to
the hugo fawiess mirrors Of the present
age, these 'ffrst glass pYosuotions were very
rude contrivapoes mdesds as is proved by
"a
of Queen Mary in Hollywood castle
Henry III Of Nsauce only visited the
manafactories at .Murnno, but was so de-
lighted with .an tho wonders he saw there
that ho Esusd patsnHs Of nobility for the
two dirrstors Of the glass works, and his
suocesscF, Henry ", YVES quite overcome
by tho gRfcf O glass mirror from the re-
public of Venice ab his accession to the
throne Restricted at first, as we have
seen, 10 Murano, tho manufacture OF mir
rors Was eventually introduced in Franco,
where the works of So. Goblin have attain
ed great renown for tho beauty, sizo and
general excellence Of their mirrors, which
wore sold at almost fabulous prices. And
1t was Frencfnnan, Thebart, who first
discovered the art of casting huge sheets
of plato glass such as are seen today.
During the middle ages the superstitions
of all former times were rife, and even in
the beginning of the renaissance super
natural powers were still ascribed to GER
tain magical or astrological mirrors, which
were still fashioned Of metal and upon
which myterious cabalistic signs were
family traced When properly used-that
is to say, with exact observance Of the
multitudinous imaginary laws and signs
by which they were supposed to be govern
ed-these mirrors were said to effect mag
deal cures.
In the far east few Of these magic mir
Tors are still to bo found, and here is de-
scription of the ceremonies observed to Sc
euro the recovery of a patient stricken
with an otherwise incurable disease: After
inscribing sundry potent passages Of the
Koran upon the magic mirror 1t was
perfumed and placed in the hand Of the
sick man. who was enjoined to gaze fixed
ly at his reflection while certain prayers
were recited around his bed. These pray
ers were ended by q special invocation to
the spirits Of tho earth and sky, and when
the ceremony was over, If all the partici-
pants had faithfully performed the parts
assigned them, the patient was sure to be
entirely freed from the disease. There are
other magic mirrors which are supposed
to be gifted with the power Of predicting
the future, Of effacing wrinkles, exorcis-
Ing evil spirits, procuring intercourse with