The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-10-12
THE USE OF MIRRORS
DATES FROM THE TINE OF EVE
TO THE PRESENT DAY.

day.
The reflective material wherein
Eve admired herself was, according
to Milton, smooth lake that SEEM
ed a second sky"
Narcisus, fairer than whom was
never a god or a mortal, accidentally
saw his image in the clear, silvery
water of a fountain whence he stoop-
ed to drink and believing it the
nymph of the fountain fell in love
with it.
Any solid substance that can be
polished will, to certain extent, an
swer for mirror; and metallic look
Eyeglasses are frequently mentioned
in the Old Testament. Such looking
glasses were made of mixed metal,
chiefly of copper, and were sucepti-
BILE of a luster which Sir G. Wilkin-
son says has been partially restored
in some of those discovered at The
hes, though buried in the earth for
many centuries. They were round or
oval, and inserted in handles of met
al, wood or stone, whose form and
ornamentation varied with the tastes
of Their owners.
In the catacOmbs of ancient Rome
mirrors have been found which ap-
pear to be made of mixture of
bronze and lead or tin, while others
are of a peculiar kind of stone, sup
posed to be vitrified lava.
Pliny mentions the rage for silver
mirrors as evidence of Roman eX-
travagance, and says every Roman
girl wanted one. Plutarch says that
Demosthenes had a looking glass
probably of silver and sufficiently
large to reflect his entire person
before which he was accustomed to
rehearse his oratiOnS and arrange
his gestures.
Mirrors of the Incas.
In passing it may be noted that
when the Spaniards discovered Amer |
lea they found mirrors made of
substance which they called the In
cas- stone, because it was used by
the Peruvian princes for ornamental
purposes. 1t was a sort of pyrites,
susceptible to high degree of polish
and eXcellently well calculated for
mirrors.
As the ancients were familiar with
glass it seems strange that they were
not acquainted with mirrors made
therefrom. True, Aristotle some 400
years, B. c., wrote: Glass and crys-
tai must be lined with a sheet of
metal in order to give back the imaGe
presented to them" But most au-
thors regard glass mirrors a mod
ern invention.
The first mention Of glass mir
rors-after their present fOrm-oc-
ours in a work of optics written by
an English monk, Johannes Peck
ham, in 1879. In it he speaks of
glass mirrors, covered on the back
with lead, that reflect no image if
the lead is scraped off,
Crusaders introduced 1t.
The crusaders, which did so much
to acquaint western with the indus
tries of civilization of eastern Eu
rope, were the direct cause of the
Introduction of the manufacture of
glass into Venice. For a long time
this was the only place where glass
was manufactured, and thither every
other country, desiring articles of
Venetian glass, rapidly became IA |
nous, and its sale the source of an
immense revenue to the republic.
Naturally Venice was anxious to |
secure to herself for the future so |
valuable monopoly, and to this end !
through the Council of the Ten"
she ordered the glassmakers to leave |
the city proper and establish them |
selves at Murano. on an island a lit |
tie distant northeast from Venice |
Moreover, it was proclaimed that if |
a workman should export anything |
that might enable other countries to |
enter into competition with Venice
so fas making the glass was concern
ed-his property would be confscat-
ed and he would be put to death.
First Made in Italy.
At Murano glass mirrors were first
made after the manner suggested by
Aristotle-by placing metallic
sheet back of the glass. The expert
ment did not prove satisfactory, and
metal mirrors remained in vogue till
the beginning of the 18th century,
when two glassmakers of Murano
discovered the method of making
mirrors which for several years pre-
vailed in Germany.
A Famous Mirror.
One of the most luxurious mirrors
ever made is that of Queen Mary de
Medici, of which mirror A. Sauzay
says:
1T is of rock cystal and agates,
cut, polished and set in network of
gold, form a frame around the rec
| tangular glass. Precious stones of
the finest water glitter on the frame,
particularly three large emeralds.
| One of these is set in gold mount
| ing, enriched with diamonds and ru-
bies; the two others, placed on the
! side pedestals of the base, support
| helmeted heads representing a war
rior and an amazon. The face and
neck are cut in a gem called hya-
cinth; the helmet and drapery are
of gold, enriched with diamonds.
Small emeralds serve as a setting for
two carved stones; one of them. at