il=iij=ni=gii=iiL=ii=ij^l=^»^ril=^i^^i=il=ifa=ril==iia=iE I ♦ . M $ $e jflJlagufc Jflltrrour of ©lli 3apan By SILVAN US P. THOMPSON, Mugnetizer to the Sette of Odd Volumes N° XXX PRIVATELY PRINTED OPUSCULA ISSUED TO THE MEMBERS OE THE SETTE OK ODD VOLUMES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/yemagickmirrouroOOthom PRIVATELY PRINTED OPUSCULA ISSUED TO MEMBERS OF THE SETTE OF ODD VOLUMES. No. XXX. Y E MAGICK MIRROUR OF OLD JAPAN. ge fl^agtcft fl^lrrour of €>lt) Japan BY Silvanus P. Thompson, D.Sc., F.R.S. Magnetizer to the Sette of Odd Volumes A Discourse delivered at a Meeting of the Sette holden at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, December 2, 1892 London Imprinted for the Author at the Chiswick Press ; and to be had of no Booksellers CIO io ccc XC III Night’s Robe to-night with Orient Sorcery gleams — Say : “ Magick Mirrour ! ” murmur : “Old Japan ! ” Each Sound’s a Spell, each Word a Talisman, And we but Dreamers in a World of Dreams. J.r. DEDICATED TO THE UNITED SETTE BY THEIR MAGNET IZER , ®|H0 (ZEtiition 10 fimiteu to 97 copies, anti 10 imprinted for pritiate circulation only. j®o>8. IPreoenteti tjnto Plate Y E MAGICK MIRROUR OF OLD JAPAN. N old Japan the mirror occupies a peculiarly important place. Tra- vellers in that land of strange arts and quaint customs tell us of mirror-worship as one of its forms of primitive religion. In old Japan the mirror is not, as in our Western civilization, a mere article of furniture, an accessory of the toilet, or a means for covering up the otherwise in- decorate breadth of wall above a mantel-piece. One finds the mirror in Japan surrounded with pomp and circumstance on every hand. It is prominent amongst the symbolic objedts that constitute the imperial regalia of the Shogun. One sees it depidted in Japanese 10 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR pi£tures of the infernal regions. In the temples of the old Shinto religion, precious old mirrors are enshrined in costly arks, only to be exhibited on the occasion of some great ceremony. In- numerable mirrors, some of them of old date, but mostly of modern rnanufa&ure, are to be found hung upon the walls of the Shinto temples. 7'here they have been deposited as votive offerings by women who had perhaps nought else so precious to offer. As the Japanese warrior offers as a votive gift to the temple his cherished sword, so the Japanese lady bestows her treasured mirror. There they hang in thousands, swords and mirrors, side by side, thank-offerings to the gods. In the scant furniture of the Japanese menage , the mirror, reposing in its place upon the lady’s toilet-table, forms the one significant object; the central feature to suit which all the rest is subordinated. The mirror enters into the myths of the Japanese race : it is the emblem of light, or the sun, and of the divine right of the dynasty. In the trousseau of the bride the mirror is the most precious objeft — her one cherished pos- session. The first-made mirror — or the one OF OLD JAPAN. n held to be such in the estimation of the Japanese, and venerated accordingly — is enshrined in the great sacred twin-palace at Ise, the holy spot to which pious pilgrims turn their steps with devoted zeal. Its origin is related in the famous myth of the sun-goddess, Amaterasu oho-mi- kami, who, on one occasion, withdrew offended to a rocky cavern, leaving the world in dark- ness. From this retreat she was enticed by the other gods, after many curious artifices had been tried, by their successful making of a mirror, in which seeing her face reflected, she was impelled by jealousy and curiosity to venture forth. This mirror was fashioned by the V ulcan of the Shinto Olympus to imitate the sun, being in shape a disk with eight rays. In modern Japanese heraldry the sun, as blazoned upon the national flag, is a red orb with sixteen red rays, not pointed as in European heraldry, but widening out to the margin of the flag. Some hold that the Japanese imperial crest, the kikUj which resembles a flower with sixteen petals joined and rounded at the outer extremi- ties, and issuing from a small central disk, is also a blazon of the sun ; others hold it to i2 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR represent the chrysanthemum. In Japanese pictures of the sun-goddess myth, the mirror is always represented as of the eight-point form. Tradition states that the flaw still to be seen in its surface was caused by a blow it received when the gods thrust it into the half-opened doorway of the rocky cavern as the sun-goddess peeped out. The standard version of the entire myth is to be found in a memoir on the Shinto Temples of Ise by Mr. Ernest Satow, in the second volume of the cc Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan” (1873-74). In the British Museum, in Dr. Anderson’s col- lection of Japanese drawings, No. 1905, there is a silk roll painted in colours, depicting the scene outside the cavern. It is without signa- nature or seal, and the artist is unknown. A further myth narrates the subsequent history of the mirror. It was handed by the sun- goddess to her grandson Nini-gi no mikoto when he descended from heaven to subdue the earth, along with the sacred sword and the sacred seal-stone (the three sacred treasures of the Japanese regalia), with these words: cc Look upon this mirror as my spirit: keep it OF OLD JAPAN. 13 in the same house and on the same floor with yourself, and worship it as if you were wor- shipping my a£lual presence.” Nini-gi no mikoto founded the empire of Japan, and is worshipped as the first Shogun, all subsequent sovereigns claiming divine right by descent from him. All mirrors in Shinto temples, whether exposed to view or concealed in shrines or arks, are imitations of this one, though some are regarded as being representative of other secondary deities. At Ise, where the first mirror is preserved, each mirror is enclosed in a box standing on a stand, and covered with a cloth of silk. The mirror is itself wrapped in a brocade bag, which is never opened or re- newed, but which, when nearly worn out, is enclosed in a new bag. Over the numerous wrappings is a cage of wood with gold orna- ments, draped with a curtain of coarse silk. At festivals, when they open the shrines, all that can be seen is the boxes with the cover- ings over them. The mirror of old Japan is however a very different article from that known in modern Europe as a mirror. European mirrors are i4 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR made, as everyone knows, of glass silvered at the back. Japanese mirrors are invariably made of metal, the bronze employed being a compound of copper and tin, with traces of antimony or lead . 1 The mirrors preserved in the temples are not all of the eight-pointed form. Some are simply circular, with a thick rim behind, and a central button perforated to receive a suspending cord ; the front being quite plane. Others are oval, with feet, or with perforated handles at the upper part for suspension. In the houses square mirrors are very rarely met with, and these are mostly small. Those for the lady’s toilet table are usually circular, from four to five inches across, without handles, possessing a thick rim and a raised pattern on the back. Commonest of all are the hand-mirrors, which are usually circular, from three to eleven inches in dia- meter, with a metal handle covered with bam- boo or with brocade. They are usually slightly convex on the front surface, which is brightly polished ; while the back, which is for the 1 For some analyses of the metal see Appendix IV. OF OLD JAPAN. 15 most part unpolished, exhibits a fine raised pattern. Often the raised ornament consists of two distin£t kinds. There is made in high relief, and polished bright so as to stand out from the background, a simple bold symbolic device, sometimes a Chinese character signify- ing “good-luck,” or cc long-life,” sometimes a family crest, such as the imperial kiri (or Paullonia leaves and flowers), or a circlet, or three feathers crossed, or the jagged peak of Fuji-yama, or the outline of a bird. Ornament of the second kind is in low relief, and, though often symbolic, consists of naturalistic repre- sentations of trees, flowers, storks, bamboos, and the like. A group comprising pine-trees, storks, and the hairy-tailed tortoise, all symbols of longevity or immortality, is a favourite one. Sometimes the ornament consists exclusively of one or other of these kinds \ but more fre- quently both are present ; the unpolished low- relief work forming an artistic background for the crest or the Chinese letters, which stand out polished. In passing it may be remarked that the Japanese make use of Chinese charac- ters in addition to their own form of writing, 1 6 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR just as we still use old English black-letters for ornamental or distinctive purposes. But the most interesting thing about Japanese mirrors — the one thing that has made them famous and brought them to the notice of lovers of the curious and the occult — is their reputed magical property. Oriental stories of magic mirrors have been current from the middle ages, most of them wholly childish and absurd. But along with these there have existed accounts, of a more reliable character, of mirrors which are capable of reflecting, in a beam of light that falls on their face, the pattern which they carry on their back. This singular property is no myth, though the true explanation of the phenomenon was long un- known. When first seen, the phenomenon is so startling that it seems almost incredible. You take the mirror into your hand and examine it. Its face is slightly convex, per- fectly polished, unless scratched by use or tar- nished ; and on looking into it you see only your own image, or the objeCts about you — not a hint or trace of the raised pattern at the back. Now hold up the mirror in direCt sun- Plate II. OF OLD JAPAN. i7 light, or in the path of a powerful beam of light from some artificial source, such as an ele£tric lamp. It will reflect back the beam, and cast an illuminated patch on the wall or floor, just as any other mirror will do. But on examining this luminous patch you will at once observe — if your mirror is a good one — that the salient features, and sometimes even the fine details, of the pattern on the back are reproduced in the light reflected from the front. Some dozens of Japanese mirrors, most of them quite modern, have passed through the hands of the author for optical examination. Some of these failed to show any magical pro- perties whatever. Others showed the property very well. Others again, which showed nothing at first, were found capable of being converted into magic mirrors by a course of treatment subsequently discovered. Down to about 1845 these mirrors were excessively rare in Europe, though it is quite possible that they may have occasionally formed part of the stock-in-trade of mediaeval con- jurors and magicians. Amidst the mass of occult rubbish one may here and there discern B 18 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR statements probably relating to the genuine phenomena exhibited by mirrors of the class in question, having little or nothing in common with the visions to be seen in crystal spheres, or beryls, or in pools of ink. Thus Gaspard Schott, both in his “ Physica Curiosa” and in his book on Magic, refers to the Mirror of Pythagoras, in or on which he is said to have written in blood the things which he wished to signify, and which, when turned to the moon, displayed upon the disk of the moon, visibly to one standing behind, the things so inscribed. The u disk of the moon ” here referred to may have been simply the luminous patch cast by the reflected moonbeam. Again, it is stated that the Italian historian, Muratori, makes two references to magic mirrors, one in the possession of Bishop Bar- tolomeo of Verona, who was murdered by Mastino della Scala in 1338 ; the other found in the house of Cola di Rienzo (or Rienzi), which had upon its back the word “Fiorone.” Not having been able to verify the statement from literature available in the British Museum, I am in doubt about the last case. It is much OF OLD JAPAN. 19 more likely that the mirror bore on its back a large flower, than that it bore the word mean- ing a large flower. Except for obscure references such as these, there is no record of real magic mirrors prior to 1832. Yet a few did undoubtedly exist. There were some in the collection of the royal family of Savoy at Turin, which were later ex- amined by Professor Govi. There was one reputed to be magical in Berlin. The great Von Humboldt thought it worth his while, in 1830, to bring this mirror to Paris to show it to his confreres of the Academie des Sciences ; but having brought it, found himself unable to show anything. In 1 842 several mirrors were brought from Nankin by Admiral Mouchez (commander of tc La Favorite”), M. Arosa, and M. Piou. One was in the possession of the Marquis La Grange in 1847. With the opening of Japan to the commercial world, in 1867, came the export of mirrors amongst other articles of metal-work ; amongst them some that were of magic quality. One was displayed in 1876 in the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus in the western galleries 20 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR of the South Kensington Museum. The official Catalogue (p. 927) thus describes it: “983 c. Magic Mirror. [Exhibited by] Robert von Tarnow. This mirror is a curiosity, and consists of a brass concave disc with finely polished surface. At the reverse rough side there are several Arabic ( sic ) chara&ers in relief. By exposing the polished surface to the rays of the sun in such a way that they reflect them on the wall, the Arabic figures of the reverse side of the disc become plainly visible in the reflefted light on the wall.” It was this mirror which, in the following year, the present writer had in mind when, writing in “ Nature,” he proposed that an investigation should be made into the strange optical property so exhibited. Happily at that time his friend Professor W. E. Ayrton was resident in Japan as Professor in the Imperial College of Engineering at Tokio, and he and his colleague, Professor Perry, at once engaged in an exhaustive research on the subject, in the course of which they not only examined some hundreds of mirrors, but also acquainted them- selves on the actual spot with the methods of OF OLD JAPAN. 21 manufa&ure, which until then were entirely unknown, or misunderstood. A year or two later, after the publication of the researches of Ayrton and Perry, other researches of an entirely confirmatory character were published in France by M. Bertin. In fa£t, the scientific investigations may be sharply divided into four periods. (/.) 1832. Elementary guesses by Brewster and Prinsep, the former of whom ascribed the phenomenon to some supposed molecular changes in the metal at the surface, due to a pattern having been stamped on the front to imitate that on the back, and then ground off. The latter ascribed it more correctly to dif- ferences of curvature of surface, but also fell into the error of supposing the ornament to have been stamped. (//.) 1844-1853. French investigations by Arago, Julien, Person, and Maillard. Of these investigators Person gave the suggestion of the true cause, namely, minute differences of curvature in the polished surface, a circum- stance which he proved by covering the mirror with a piece of paper having a circular hole, 22 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR about one centimetre in diameter, and which, when moved about over the mirror (in sunlight), caused as a reflected image a spot of light, the size of which varied from point to point of the mirror. He also soldered a narrow slip of sheet metal behind a polished daguerreotype plate, and found that when the latter was slightly bent the image from the front showed a luminous line at the corresponding place. Maillard later adopted Person’s theory, and confirmed it by employing an optician to burnish on the lathe a piece of metal which had raised markings on its back. He also noted that a scratch on the mirror back gives a bright line in the image. (///.) 1864-66. Investigations of Govi, in Italy, and his controversy with Brewster thereon. Govi frankly adopted the views of Person, and confirmed them by an experiment based on the mode adopted by the constructors of reflecting telescopes for testing the accuracy of the figure given by the grinding machinery to specula. He caused a magic mirror to reflect upon a screen the image of a fine grat- ing of lines, ruled upon glass with a diamond, OF OLD JAPAN. 23 and placed close to a brilliant point of light. By the distortions which the mirror produced in these lines he found the whole reflecting surface to be minutely undulated over with slight variations of curvature in complete correspondence with the raised arabesques on the back. These undulations, he observed, escape notice when one is looking into the face of the mirror because they are so gentle, and are such that, to perceive them, we require organs that are more delicate than our own. On the publication of this account, and of a translation of it in the “ Scientific Review ” for 1865, Sir David Brewster wrote to say how, in 1832, he had explained the phenome- non as being due to differences of density or other quality of molecular structure, or to fine scratches produced by trickery, and doubting Govi’s explanation. He declared that similar phenomena had been produced by stamping patterns into the face of brass and grinding them down to be invisible on inspection. He considered the only way in which they could be proved to be due to delicate differences of curvature was either to show that they dis- 24 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR appeared on re-surfacing the mirror with a soft speculum-tool, or by taking an exa£t cast from the mirror, and seeing whether this also had magic properties. Govi thus challenged, at once disproved Brewster’s position, and established his own by showing that the character of the image, white lines on dull ground, is changed to that of dull lines on a brighter ground, by simply interposing in front of the mirror a convex lens. This effect can only be produced by difference of curvature of surface. Further, Govi per- formed the following striking experiment. Taking a Japanese mirror which ordinarily showed no magic effects, he heated it behind with a spirit lamp, when at once it acquired magic properties. He further improvised with a piece of daguerreotype plate, and a metal ring which he soldered to the back at as low a temperature as possible, a mirror which showed the same effe&s when, by heating, there arose an unequal expansion between the thin and the thick parts. (iv.) 1878-80. Researches of Ayrton and Perry, and those of Bertin, of Laurent, and of Plate III. ' 25 OF OLD JAPAN. Muraoka. First, Ayrton and Perry set about procuring mirrors from the shops in Japan, and found that the vendors were in many cases wholly ignorant of the existence of the magic property. Further, the mirror makers could not say how the mirrors became magic, nor which of their mirrors were such ; or they gave explanations subsequently found false, de- claring the effedt to be produced by application of an acid paste to etch the face prior to polish- ing. The investigators then, having procured some good mirrors, proceeded to test the various possible suggestions as to the origin, such as the supposed difference of density, or of molecular constitution, or the supposed in- laying of the face with inferior metal, or to supposed concealed scratches on the surface, or, finally, to differences of curvature. By simple experiments in which bright light was caused successively to fall upon the mirror in diverg- ing, parallel, or converging beams, it was demonstrated beyond question that the last- named cause was the true one. The whole phenomenon is explained if once it could be established that the surface over the thick 26 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR parts is flatter (less convex, or even aCtually slightly concave) than the surface over the thin parts. Using a large convex lens to con- verge sunlight that had been reflected from a mirror, they showed that by merely altering the distance of the screen on which the image was received they could make the image either positive or negative at will; a result impossible on any other hypothesis than that of differences of curvature of surface. This being established, they then investigated the process of mirror manufacture, to ascertain how these delicate inequalities of surface arise ; and they found it to be due to an accident, or incident, of manufacture. All the finished Japanese mirrors may be observed to be slightly convex in the face. They are cast in moulds, the surface of each half of which is quite flat save for the ornament incised on the mould for the back. The following is Ayrton and Perry’s description of the process of casting. cc The material used for making the mould is a mixture of a special kind of clay (found near Tokio and Osaka), with water and straw- ash. Two suitable slabs having been formed 27 OF OLD JAPAN. from this plastic compound with the aid of wooden frames, a thick layer of half-liquid mixture of powdered old crucibles, or of a fine powder called to-no-ko , made from a soft kind of whetstone, is spread on them. The design for the back of the mirror is then cut dire&ly on one half of the mould, or a sketch drawn on paper is first stuck on and used as a guide in cutting the design in the clay. Sometimes, but rarely, the design is stamped in the clay with a pattern wood-block cut in relief like the proposed back of the mirror. After the design is complete, a rim of the same material as that used in the construction of the mould, and having a thickness equal to that desired for the mirror, is attached to one half of the mould. The two halves are then dried in the smoke of a pine-tree fire, pressed and tied together, and laid in the casting-box at an angle of 8o° to the horizon, the half of the mould on which the design has been cut being upper- most. Finally the molten speculum metal is run into a number of moulds at the same time, which, when cold, are broken up, and the castings removed. Mirrors cast in a mould, in 28 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR which the design has been cut by hand, are called ichi mai buki , c mould used once/ and are regarded as artists’ proofs, as the design on the back is well defined. To form subsequent moulds the two halves are pressed, when the clay is wet, on an ichi mai buki mirror, and the pattern is in this way transferred, but the designs on the backs of the mirrors cast in such moulds are not as clear as on an ichi mai buki mirror, which therefore sells for a much higher price.” Flaws in the face of the casting are filled by inserting little balls of copper — giving rise, perhaps, to the idea that inlaying was used to produce the illusions. The handle is not cast along with the disk of the mirror, but is attached afterwards. Mirror castings when they are removed from the mould are roughly flat on the face, and need to be subjected to several processes to finish their reflecting sur- faces : during these processes they acquire their characteristic convexity and their high polish. The mirror is laid down on its back on a wooden board, and then scraped or scratched with a rounded iron rod about a foot long, called a megebo ^ distorting rod”). The process of scor- 29 OF OLD JAPAN. ing over with the blunttool is called mege . After being scored all over with scratches in every diredtion, it is found to be convex. Next the face is scraped with a hand-scraping tool, then rubbed down with a whetstone, then polished over with a piece of magnolia-charcoal; and lastly, when quite smooth, the amalgam of tin and mercury is rubbed in with a stiff straw brush, and polished off with soft paper. Thicker mirrors are sometimes pared down with a knife to the convex shape: they seldom or never show magic properties. The knife is also used to pare down any portion which in the operation mege may have become too convex. The convexity is tested from time to time by applying a concave wooden form. Professor Ayrton was of opinion that the magic proper- ties were conferred during the operation of scraping with the megebo , the thicker parts of the mirror yielding less, and therefore being polished down more than the thinner parts. He also noted that if the face was scored by the megebo with parallel lines in one direction only, the convexity acquired was cylindrical. His conclusion was: “It appears then that 30 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR the magic of the Eastern mirror results from no subtle trick on the part of the maker, from no inlaying of other metal, or hardening of portions by stamping, but merely arises from the natural property possessed by thin bronze of buckling under a bending stress, so as to remain strained in the opposite direction after the stress is removed. And this stress is applied partly by the c distorting rod,’ and partly by the subsequent polishing, which, in an exa&ly similar way, tends to make the thinner parts more convex than the thicker.” The researches of Ayrton and Perry may be said to have de- termined once and for all the main cause of the magic properties. No one has since dis- puted the principal propositions of their memoir, though it is certain that the differences of cur- vature may be produced in several varieties of operation. Bertin, who wrote two years later, confirmed the conclusions arrived at, and repeated on other mirrors the experiments of Ayrton and Perry, as well as those of Person and Govi. Finding that the distortions produced by heating were particularly efficacious in bringing out the OF OLD JAPAN. 31 magic qualities, he sought to imitate them mechanically, and, with the aid of the optician Duboscq, constructed an apparatus for confer- ring temporary convexity upon mirrors by mounting them against an air-tight back, with a cavity behind into which air could be driven by a force-pump. With this apparatus he examined the effedts that are produced by drill- ing cavities, cutting grooves, and etching de- pressions in the backs of mirrors. Laurent, taking up this line of suggestions, produced magic mirrors of thin glass, etched into patterns at the back, and silvered on the front face. These, when mounted on an air-tight back, could be made to show either positive or nega- tive figures by diminishing or increasing the pressure of the air behind the mirror by means of a simple india-rubber pear attached by a flexible tube to an aperture in the back ; the pressure of the hand sufficing to bring out the optical effedts. Laurent further showed that by taking an ordinary piece of mirror glass (patent plate glass silvered at the back) magic effedts could be produced by lightly pressing against the back hot pieces of metal on which a raised 32 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR pattern had been engraved. In this case the portions of the mirror nearest in contadt with the hot metal became hotter than the other parts, and expanding more, set up minute diffe- rences of curvature sufficient to concentrate the refledled rays of light from the heated parts. About the same time Mendenhall, then in Japan, made further observations, which were communicated to the American Association for the Advancement of Science at its meeting at Cincinnati. Mendenhall was followed by two Japanese observers, — both trained in physi- cal research in Europe, — Goto and Muraoka, the latter of whom, while confirming the main propositions that the effedts are due to dif- ferences of convexity, and that the convexity is acquired during the process of mege or scoring over with the megebo , gave some further details learned from the mirror-makers of Tokio. He showed that any plate, if thin enough, whether of bronze, brass, copper, lead, zinc, iron, or glass, acquires the property of con- vexity on being scored over with scratches ; and he came to the conclusion that this surface- expansion on the scored side of the metal arose Plate IV. 33 OF OLD JAPAN. from some sort of release of molecular tension across the lines so scored. Like Ayrton, he held that this production of convexity on the scored surface explained the phenomenon that a scratch made by a file or pointed tool on the back causes a corresponding bright line to be reflected from the face. In a second article Muraoka sought to prove that the differences of curvature are not really due to differences of pressure during the operations of scoring and surfacing, but are due to the unequal rising-up of the metal in the thick and thin parts when the surface is caused to expand by scoring it over with scratches. In May, 1886, Professors Ayrton and Perry, having discovered that the a £t of amalgamating with mercury the surface of a thick brass bar produces a powerful expansion of the amal- gamated surface and bends the bar convexly, made the further suggestion that the employ- ment by the Japanese mirror-polishers of a mercury-amalgam might assist the operation of the megebo in producing the differences of curvature between the thinner and thicker parts. c 34 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR The author having from time to time picked up a number of Japanese mirrors from dealers in oriental curiosities, and having repeated all the researches enumerated above and added some others, is able to demonstrate very com- pletely the phenomena in question. Plate I. depicts a mirror in the author’s possession, about 7 inches in diameter, the back of which bears in high relief a crest in the form of a bird [hobo). The casting has evidently been tooled up to give greater sharp- ness, and the part in high relief has been ground and polished. The pattern which this mirror casts from its face is shown beside the mirror, both being photographically reproduced. This mirror shows the pattern with sunlight, or with the light of the electric arc, or with limelight. It can also be shown to a few persons at a time by means of the flame of a paraffin lamp twenty feet away, or even by the light of an ordinary candle a couple of feet away. In the case of these weaker sources of light the mirror must be held close to the white screen or card upon which the image is to be received. Plate II. is taken from a mirror upon OF OLD JAPAN. 35 which there is, in high relief, polished, a crest consisting of the imperial kiri within a circlet, together with a landscape of storks and bamboos in lower relief. In this case only the orna- ment in high relief produces any effeCt : and it is interesting to notice that, whereas the circlet on the back is a simple flat band, the circlet in the image (which is distorted in con- sequence of a general distortion of the mirror face as a whole) presents double lines. The author is disposed to think that the ornament on the back must in this instance have been subje&ed to polishing subsequently to the front face. Plate III. represents a very thin mirror, about 9.1. inches in diameter and not more than 0*04 inch thick in its thinnest parts. The central character in high relief is surrounded with the seven precious objects in lower relief. Most of these may be seen more or less distinctly in the luminous pattern cast from the front. Plate IV. is a rather smaller mirror, 6|- inches in diameter, having low-relief ornament only ; yet of this almost every detail is visible 36 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR in the image as cast by eledtric light or sun- light. Plate V. shows a mirror which has two Chinese characters in high relief, polished, with a background made up of symbols of longevity — pine-tree, two storks, and a hairy- tailed tortoise. But though these are in almost as high relief as the polished letters, only the former are to be distinguished in the image. Here again the author conceives that the two letters have been polished down sub- sequently to the face ; the pattern of these parts having been thus, to a minute degree, forced into the reflecting surface. Plate VI. depicts a rectangular mirror, 1 5 inches high by ioi- inches wide, and weighing 54 lbs. It is the only one of this form that he has seen or heard of; though smaller square mirrors of 3 to 4 inches in the side are not in- frequent. One of the latter, in his possession, an old mirror covered at the back with Chinese characters, has no magic qualities at all. The large rectangular mirror is slightly convex, but more so in its longer direction than in its breadth. The bamboos in the pattern, though Plate 37 OF OLD JAPAN. not very highly raised, are in very sharp relief, the mirror being, apparently, an ichi mat buki , or artist’s proof. There are two raised lumps on the back, apparently the remains of the parts where the metal was poured into the mould ; and, curiously enough, neither these nor the rims of the rocks in the foreground yield any image, though they are more highly raised than any part of the bamboos. To complete the proofs that the effedfs are due to differences of curvature the author has made the following observations. By holding a magic mirror very obliquely to the light one can discern traces of the pattern in the face, especially if one is accustomed to ex- amine optical surfaces for small inequalities of curvature. For example, on examining (at oblique reflection) in such a mirror the image of a horizontal window-bar or of the roof-line of a house, one sees the straight line slightly curved downwards out of the level wherever the image is made from a slightly concave (or less convex) part of the surface. Acting on this hint the author found that if one chooses as an object to be viewed in a mirror a pattern of 38 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR narrow parallel straight lines, such as a finely- striped blind, the pattern on the back of the mirror can be dimly seen in the face, resem- bling that species of line-engraving, sometimes used for medallion portraits, in which the whole pidture is crossed by lines from side to side, the lines being bent toward one another or widened out to give effedfs of light and shade. Another variety of the same experiment is to place a ruled diffradfion-grating of ioo lines to the inch (ruled in a silvered surface on glass) close to a bright light, and with a short- focus lens projedt the lines upon a screen. Then interpose the magic mirror to throw the luminous lines upon another screen, when they will be seen with the usual magic image ; the bright lines concentrating into the bright parts and avoiding the darker parts of the luminous pattern. By the use of the spherometer to measure the surface curvatures of the mirror faces, it is easy to show that the surface of the magic mirrors is adtually less convex, or even slightly con- cave, over those parts where the substance of the mirror is thick, as compared with those 39 OF OLD JAPAN. parts where the mirror is thin. For example, the curvature of the rectangular mirror, Plate VI., as measured from left to right over the convex surface, is, on the average, about 0*2 dioptries (or its radius of curvature is about 5 metres), but when measured at points over the vertical bamboo stems, its cur- vature falls to less than 0*05 dioptrie, and in some parts is absolutely flat, or even slightly concave. Makers of mirrors and lenses for large tele- scopes are accustomed to test the perfection of their figure by a process known as Foucault’s, in which the observer, after allowing light to fall from a single well-defined point upon the (concave) mirror at nearly normal incidence, places his eye at the point where the reflected rays converge to a focus, and then sees the whole surface of the mirror uniformly bright, save only such spots as differ in curvature from the rest. In the case of convex mirrors it is needful to interpose a large auxiliary convex lens to reconcentrate the otherwise divergent beam. Applying this method of investigation, the author finds that it is quite easy in many 4 o Ye MAGICK MIRROUR cases to see in the front face the pattern that the mirror bears on its back. Lastly, the author has made one absolutely direct proof of the inequalities of curvature of the front surface. He took the mirror depidted in Plate I., and having taken a mould of its face in a composition of gutta-percha, he de- posited a firm layer of copper in the mould by the eledlrotyping process. The type so made was silvered and polished, when it was found to reflect from its face the image of the bird that was on the back of the original mirror ; the image was, however, less regular than that from the mirror’s own face. Here, then, was a magic mirror without any pattern on its back. In repeating the experiments on heating, the author found a very singular effect to be pro- duced by warming (with a flame) the back of a thin piece of mirror glass while it reflected from its face a grating of luminous lines thrown upon it by a lamp as described above. As the flame was passed rapidly across the back, the whole pattern appeared to heave, as though a wave had passed along it. He was able also to reproduce writing in Plate VI. 4 1 OF OLD JAPAN. luminous lines on a screen or wall by the following device. A piece of thin sheet lead (tea-chest lead) was laid on a bed of blotting- paper; and upon this was written with acommon lead pencil any word desired, which therefore was slightly indented into the lead. The sheet was then pressed lightly against an ordinary piece of mirror glass and heated from behind by pressing against it a disk of hot metal. The written letters touching the back of the mirror warmed it, and made it curve at these parts. Hence, placed in an appropriate diver- gent beam of light, it threw the handwriting upon the wall. Following the hint given by Bertin’s re- search upon the effect of bending mirrors by air-pressure at the back, the author finds that a similar effect is even more powerfully pro- duced by simple mechanical pressure. He took a mirror which, though it had an excel- lent reflecting face and a well-raised pattern on the back, showed no magic properties, and having clamped it in a wooden frame, he applied screw pressure behind to force against the back a slightly convex piece of soft wood 42 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR covered with a pad of cloth. On turning the screw the mirror at once became magic, and was found, even after the screw had been released, to retain some part of its magic pro- perty. It was again distorted by screw pres- sure, and while violently bent was heated to anneal it somewhat. On removing the pres- sure it was found to retain permanently all the qualities of a good magic mirror, though it is slightly more convex than mirrors ordi- narily are. Since then it has been found that many mirrors which, when purchased, showed no magic properties, can be converted into magic mirrors, some by application of screw pressure, some by mere bending by hand over the knee, some by burnishing under pressure the pattern at the back. Engineers are so familiar with the circum- stance that when metal castings are rapidly cooled the internal parts are in a state of strain, that they are not astonished to find that after a casting has been surfaced accu- rately on one face the figure may alter slightly by the mere release of internal strains in the slow annealing of time. It is quite possible OF OLD JAPAN. 43 that this too occurs with Japanese mirrors, and that some of them may acquire with the mere lapse of time magic qualities that they do not show at first when newly polished. There appears to be another species of magic mirror, of which few examples are known, having the property of showing in the face a pattern entirely different from that on the back. Three such are mentioned by Ayrton, though it does not seem that he himself had inspected any of them personally. One of these, which he states to exist at Kamakura, the old capital of the former Shoguns, is a religious mirror about four inches and one-fifth high, by three and a half wide, held in great reverence. In the polished surface, when looked at very obliquely, is seen the image of a Buddhist priest. The pattern on the back is a rosary in high relief with a branch of plum-blossom, and a crescent moon rising out of the sea as a background. It is said that this optical effedf is produced by chemically etching the surface with an acid paste, and then repolishing. Pro- fessor Ayrton, who had two mirrors made thus by a Japanese mirror-maker, found that if the 44 Ye MAGICK MIRROUR face of a mirror that had so been etched was repolished until every trace of the marks dis- appeared in direct or oblique vision, they then entirely disappeared also from the image cast by the mirror in reflecting a beam of light upon a screen. He greatly doubted whether chemical means could produce a mirror pos- sessed of true magic properties. The cause of the phenomena of the Kamakura mirror and its congeners — should the facts be established as narrated — therefore remains still to be ex- plained. Though in the case of the ordinary Japanese mirrors science completely explains what would otherwise seem to be a most mysterious and unaccountable phenomenon, the explanation itself involves a very remarkable fact, namely, that there can exist such very delicate and minute differences of curvature in the polished face as to be practically invisible for ordinary purposes, and difficult even of scientific detec- tion, and yet that those minute differences in curvature should be in such exact correspon- dence to the patterns on the back as to re- produce those patterns in the reflected beams OF OLD JAPAN. 45 of light. The fadts seem so utterly unlikely a priori to be true, that one can only give full credence to them after the most searching scientific demonstration. But is not this, after all, only another example of the truism that when science explains away one mystery she does so by establishing some truth that is itself still more mysterious ? "The Mirror of Kamakura. Japanese Woman Dancing, with Mirror. From a bronze plate ( modern ). APPENDIX I. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE MAGIC MIRROR. Part I. Real Magic Mirrors. REWSTER, SIR DAVID. Account of a curious Chinese Mirror, etc. Philosophical Ma- gazine, vol. i., p. 438, 1832. See also Poggendorff’ s Annalen , xxvii., pp. 485-489, 1833. [Translation of the preceding], and Journal Franklin Insti- tution , vol. xv., p. 128, 1832. 48 APPENDIX I. Prinsep, James. On the Magic Mirror of Japan. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal , vol. i., p. 242, 1832 (1 plate). Arago, F. [Showed at meeting of Academie des Sciences (Paris), a mirror brought from China by M. Arosa]. Comptes Rendus , xix., p. 234, 1844. [Bertin, see 31 below, says that this mirror was brought by Admiral Mouchez from Nankin ; not by M. Arosa.] Julien, Stanislas. Notice sur les miroirs magiques des Chinois et leur fabrication. Comptes Rendus^xx iv., p. 999, June 7, j 847. [This is a translation of a Chinese writer, Ou-tseu-hing (1260-1340), who wrote on this subjeil in a Chinese Encyclopaedia. Also showed mirror belonging to La Grange.] Seguier. [A note following the preceding.] Comptes Rendus , xxiv., p. 1001, June 7, 1847. Person. Observations faites sur un des miroirs chinois dits miroirs magiques. Comptes Rendus , xxiv., p. mo, June 21 , 1847. APPENDIX I. 49 Maillard. Note sur la fabrication des miroirs magiques chinois. Comptes Rendus , xxxix., pp. 178-180, 1853. [See also Journal Franklin Institution , lvi., 281, 409, 1853.] Govi, G. Gli specchi magici dei Cinesi. Notizia storica della R. Accademia delle Scienze di Torino , 1864-65, pp. 67-74. Govi, G. Chinese Magic Mirrors [a trans- lation of the Italian memoir of Nov. 20, 1864]. The Scientific Review and Journal (London), vol. i., April 1, 1865, p. 19. Govi, G. Nuove esperienze sugli specchi magici dei Cinesi. Torino Atti Accad. Sci ., ii., 1866-67, pp. 357-362 (1 plate). See also Torino Lavori Sci . Fis . Mat ., 1869, pp . 67-75. Brewster, Sir D. Observation on the pre- ceding paper [on Chinese Magic Mirrors]. The Scientific Review and Journal , vol. i., April 1, 1865, p. 20. Parnell, J. Chinese Mirrors, The Reader , vol. vii., p. 233, March 3, 1866. D APPENDIX I. 50 Pepper, J. H. Cyclopaedic Science Simplified (London, 1869, F. Warne and Co.). A passage on Magic Mirrors on pp. 35-39, with 5 figures [some copied from Prinsep]. Julien, Stanislas, and Champion, Paul. Les industries anciennes et modernes de Pempire Chinois (Paris, 1869), containing a short article on Les miroirs magiques des Chinois, et leur fabrication. (Quotation from the memoir of M. Julien of 1847, supra.) Satow, Ernest. The Shin-tau Temples of Ise. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan , vol. i., 1874. Reprinted 1882, p. 10 1. Gives, p. 1 1 4- 1 1 9, an account of the myth of the sun-goddess, and of the making of the first mirror. Also speaks of the use of mirrors in the Shin-tau religion. Geerts, Dr. Useful Metals and Metallurgy of the Japanese. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan^ vol. iv., 1 875-76, p. 39. [An article on the Japanese uses of Mercury. Appendix, p. 39-41, on Mirrors.] APPENDIX I. 5 1 Atkinson, R. W. (Professor of the Tokio Dai Gaku, or Imperial University). Letter in Nature , May 24, 1877, vol. xvi., p. 62. Highley, Samuel. Letter in Nature, June 14, 1877, vol. xvi., p. 132. Darbishire, R. D. Letter in Nature , June 21, 1877, vol. xvi., p. 142. Thompson, Silvanus P. Letter in Nature , June 28, 1877, vol. xvi., p. 163. Parnell, J. Letter in Nature , July 19, 1877, v °l* XV W P- 22 7* Masse, E. Miroirs Japonais. journal de Physique , t. vi., p. 320, 1877. Sterne, Carus. Article on Japanese Mirrors in Gartenlaube , Jahrg. xxv., 1877, No. 29, p. 487 (1 cut). Ayrton, William E., and Perry, John (Professors in the Imperial College of Engi neering, Tokio). The Magic Mirror of Japan, part i. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London , No. 191, 1878, p. 127- 148. APPENDIX I. 52 Ayrton, William E. The Mirror of Japan and its Magic Quality. Journal of the Royal Institution , vol. ix., p. 25, 1879, being a Ledfure delivered January 24, 1879. [See also Nature , vol. xix., p. 539-542, April 10, 1879, and Chambers’s Journal , vol. Ivi., p. 59 1 ) i8 79 -] Ayrton, William E., and Perry, John. Sur les miroirs magiques du Japon. [Trans- lation of their paper of 1878, with cuts added.] Annales de Chimie et de Physique , 5 e Serie, xx. p. no, 1880. Ayrton, William E. La Nature , 1880, May 1, p. 514. (Report of Ledture given in Paris.) Govi, G. Les miroirs magiques des Chinois. Annales de Chimie et de Physique , 5® Serie, xx., p. 99, 1880. Govi, G. Nouvelles experiences sur les miroirs magiques. Annales de Chimie et de Physique , 5 s Serie, xx., p. 106, 1880. APPENDIX I. 53 Bertin, A., et Duboscq, J. Produ&ion artificielle des miroirs magiques. Annales de Gkimie et de Physique , 5 e Serie, t. xx., p. 143, 1880. Bertin, A. Note sur les miroirs magiques. 'Journal de Physique , tome ix., pp. 401- 407, 1880. Laurent, L. Miroirs magiques en verre argente. Journal de Physique , tome x., pp. 474-479, 1881 ; also Comptes Rendus , xcii., 21 fevrier, 21 mars, et 4 avril, 1881, p.412-413. Bertin, A. Les miroirs magiques. Revue Scientifique , vol. 1 ., 1 881, p. 258-263. (Le&ure to the Association Scientifique de France). Bertin, A. Etude sur les miroirs magiques. Annales de Chimie et de Physique , 5 e Serie, t. xxii., p. 472-513, 1881 (avec 1 planche). Mendenhall, T. C. Proc . American Assoc . for Advancement of Science (Cincinnati, 1881), vol. xxx., p. 57. APPENDIX I. 54 Person. Gakugeishirm , No. 39, quoted by Muraoka ; see infra . Goto, Makita. Tokio-Gakugeisassi, No. 22, p. 35, quoted by Muraoka; see infra . Muraoka, Hanichi. Herstellung der japa- nesischen magischen Spiegel, etc. Wied . Annalen , xxii., p. 246-252, 1884. (From the Tokio-Gakugeisassi.) [See also Mittheil. der Deutschen Gesellschaft Ostasiens , heft 31, 1884]. Muraoka, Hanichi. Ueber den japanesi- schen magischen Spiegel. Wied . Annalen > xxv., 138, 1885. Anderson, W illiam, F. R.C.S. Description and Historical Catalogue of a Colledlion of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum (London, 1886). (On p. 398, § 1905, is a description of a picture representing the myth of the sun-goddess.) Ayrton, William E., and Perry, John. On the expansion produced by Amalgama- tion. Proc. Physical Society of London , vol. viii., p. 88-9, 1886. APPENDIX I. 55 Part II. Alleged References to Magic Mirrors. (/.) The Mirror of Pythagoras. The passage in question is in the Physica Curiosa of Gaspard Schottus (4to Edition, Herbipolis, 1667), p. 538, referring to his own book on magic, and runs as follows : c< Ibidem mentionem fecimus speculi Pytha- gorae, in quo sanguine dicitur scripsisse quae volebat significare, et eo ad Lunam obverso commonstrasse res exaratas stanti a tergo in disco Lunae.” The reference is to another passage on page 553 of Schottus’ Magia Divinatoria (Her- bip., 1657-59, par. iv.), in the chapter De Catoptromantia : “Hue referunt aliqui speculum Pythagorae cujus meminit Agrippa in RetraSfat . de Magia , cap. de Prestigiis , qui sanguine perscripsisse dicitur, quae collibuisset, in speculo et eo ad Lunam obverso, commonstrasse res exaratas stanti a tergo in disco Lunae. Hoc si verum est, utique non naturaliter contingit sed ope Daemonis.” 56 APPENDIX I. In the same work, par. i., p. 438-440, is a discussion of the proposition : w Utrum in lunari disco aliquid legendum exhiberi potest arte catoptrographica.” He says that Baptista Porta maintained this in his Natural Magic (cap. xvii., lib. 17). He also quotes from the Philosophia Occulta of Cornelius Agrippa (lib. i., cap. 6) as follows : “ Si litteras parabolico speculo inscripseris idque tempori plenilunii Lunae exposueris eae litterae ceu in vasto quodam speculo impressae reflexaeque ubilibet locorum legi poterunt. Ita Pythagoram aiunt, dum Hydrunti morare- tur, litteras Lunae inscriptas Constantinopoli amicis legendas dedisse.” There is also a passage in Dr. Thomas Browne’s Pseudodoxia Epidemica (Vulgar Er- rours), p. 60 (Edition of 1650), in reference to this myth : u Which is a way of intelligence very strange ; and would requite the Art of Pythagoras ; who could read a reverse in the Moon.” Other references in occult literature to the alleged mirror of Pythagoras are as follows : Athanasius Kircher. Ars Magna Lucis APPENDIX I. 57 et Umbrae (Cryptologia, cap. i.) (Romae, 1646, fol.), p. 908. (Quotes from Cornelius Agrippa and Porta, and denounces the account as absurd, and against natural possibility.) Bubalus. Comment ationem de Angelis (Lugduni, 1622, fob), 9-50, art. 1, quaesito 2, difficult. 2, § 3, pp. 64-66. (Combats views of Paracelsus.) Paracelsus. Magia , lib. 5, de Speculi constitutione. (Distinguishes five kinds of alleged magic mirrors ; none of them, how- ever, having any optical significance.) Boissardus. Trattatus de Divinatione (Op- penheim, 1616, folio), p. 297. (/V.) Aulus Gellius. Carus Sterne (Gar- tenlaube, 1877) and Ayrton ( Journal Royal Institution , 1879) refer to Aulus Gellius as having written of mirrors which u sometimes refledted their backs and sometimes did not. 5 * The reference appears to be a mistaken one ; for all I have been able to find in Aulus Gellius is the following passage in the Nolfes Attica , 58 APPENDIX I. bk. xvi., ch. xviii. (which is upon that branch of Geometry called otttixyi) : ’ 07 ttlk} ) facit multa demiranda id genus; (i) ut in speculo uno imagines unius rei plures appareant ; (2) item , ut speculum, in loco certo positum , nihil i magi net, aliorsum translatum, faciat imagines ; (3) item, si re6tus speculum spe&es, imago fiat tua hujusmodi, ut caput deorsum videatur pedes sursum. The passage which I have put into italics appears to have been mistaken in meaning. In Beloe’s translation, vol. iii., p. 249, this clause is rendered as follows : a A glass placed in a certain position shows nothing. Turn it, and it shows many things/’ This is hardly adequate. More accurately it should run : “A mirror set in a certain place shows no image, but when transferred to another position produces images/’ There is nothing in this at all suggestive of the mirror reflecting from its face the pattern on its back. (iii.) Muratori. Sterne (op. cit .) and Ayrton (op. cit.) refer vaguely to the Italian historian Muratori as the authority for accounts of a cc magic mirror found under the pillow of the Bishop of Verona, who was afterwards APPENDIX I. 59 condemned to death by Martin (sic) della Scala, as well as of the one discovered in the house of Colla da Rienzi (sic) on the back of which was the word c Fiorone.’ ” The bishop in question was Bartolomeo dalla Scala, who was put to death in 1338 by Mastino della Scala, as narrated byMuratori (Annali d’ Italia^ vol. viii., p. 212, of the folio edition of 1 744-49). Cola di Rienzo (or Rienzi) is mentioned many times in the same volume viii. I have not, however, been able to find in this work the mention of the mirror in either case. Neither have I found any as yet in Lessmann’s life of Mastino della Scala (Berlin, 1829); nor in Du Cerceau’s Life and Times of Rienzi (Lond. 1836). Muratori was, however, a prolific writer. Amongst his works were : Delle forze delV Intendimento Umano ; Rifles - sioni sopra il Buon Gusto nelle Scienze e nelle Arte 1 La Filosofa Morale . It is possible that the reference may be to some passage in these. Muratori also refers to a Vita di Cola di Rienzo , the authorship of which is unknown to me. (iv.) Von Humboldt. In 1830 Von Hum- 6o APPENDIX I. boldt brought a supposed magic mirror from Berlin to Paris to exhibit it to members of the Academie des Sciences. It was indeed shown to some of them at the apartments of M. Arago at the Observatoire. No reference to the occurrence is to be found in the journals of the Academie, published or private, or in any contemporary journal. Perhaps the reason is that, as is known, the experiments proved a total failure. My information on the subjedt is derived from Bertin [Ann. Chim. Phys ., xxii., 1881, p. 478). ( v .) Babinet. The name of Babinet is sometimes given along with that of Arago in connexion with this subjedt ; but I am unable to find that he did anything. [vi.) Harting (Pieter). In their 1878 paper Ayrton and Perry refer to a short paper by Professor Harting in the Album der Natuur some years before. It appears that this was a short-lived periodical, edited by Harting and Logeman, which was issued at Haarlem (A. C. Kruseman, publisher) in 1872. There is a single part (No. 3 of vol. i.) in the British APPENDIX I. 61 Museum. No copy containing the article in question is known in England. (vii.) Tennant, Prof. James. The well-known mineralogist Tennant is believed to have issued, about the year 1869, a small pamphlet of about four pages on the subject of Japanese mirrors. No copy has yet been found. (From a Drawing in the British Museum by Tachibana no Binko, 1784.) Mask of Uzume (O-kame). From a netzuke in the possession of Charles Holme, Esq. {Pilgrim), APPENDIX II. THE MYTH OF THE SUN-GODDESS AND THE INVENTION OF THE MIRROR. {Abstracted, from tke account given by Mr. E. Satow in vol. ii. of the 3. Ye Boke of Ye Odd Volumes, from 1878 to 1883. Carefvlly Compiled and painsfvlly Edited by ye vnworthy Historiographer to ye Sette, Brother and Vice-President William Mort Thompson, and produced by ye order and at ye charges of Hys Oddship ye President and Librarian of ye Sette, Bro. Bernard Quaritch. (pp. 136.) Presented on April the 13th, 1883, by his Oddship Bernard Quaritch. Edition limited to 150 copies. 4. Love’s Garland ; Or Posies for Rings, Hand-kerchers, & Gloves, and such pretty Tokens that Lovers send their Loves. London, 1674. A Reprint. And Ye Garland of Ye Odd Volumes, (pp. 102.) Presented on October the 12th, 1883, by Bro. James Roberts Brown. Edition limited to 250 copies. 5. Queen Anne Musick. A brief Accompt of ye genuine Article, those who performed ye same, and ye Masters in ye facultie. From 1702 to 1714. (pp. 40.) 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Carefvlly Compiled and painsfvlly Edited by ye vnworthy Historiographer to ye Sette, Bro. William Mort Thompson, and produced by ye order and at ye charges of ye Sette (pp. 157.) Edition limited to 115 copies. 19. Repeats and Plagiarisms in Art, 1888. By Bro. James Orrock, R.I., Connoisseur to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at Willis’s Rooms, St. James’s, on Friday, January 4th, 1889. (pp. 33.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. James Orrock, R.I. Edition limited to 133 copies. 83 20. How Dreams Come True. A Dramatic Sketch by Bro. J. Todhunter, Bard of the Sette of Odd Volumes. Performed at a Conversazione of the Sette at the Grosvenor Gallery, on Thursday, July 17th, 1890. (pp. 46.) Pre- sented to the Sette by His Oddship Bro. Charles Holme. Edition limited to 600 copies. 21. The Drama in England during the last Three Centuries. By Bro. Walter Hamilton, F.R.G.S., Parodist to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at Limmer’s Hotel, on Wed- nesday, January 8th, 1890. (pp. 80.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Walter Hamilton. Edition limited to 201 copies. 22. Gilbert, of Colchester. By Bro. Silvanus P. Thompson, D.Sc., B.A., Magnetizer to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, July 4th, 1890. (pp. 63.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Silvanus P. Thompson. Edition limited to 249 copies. 23. Neglected Frescoes in Northern Italy. By Bro. Douglas H. Gordon, Remembrancer to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, De- cember 6th, 1889. (pp. 48.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Douglas H. Gordon. Edition limited to 133 copies. 24. Recollections of Robert-Houdin. By Bro. William Manning, Seer to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Delivered at a Meeting of the Sette held at Limmer's Hotel, on Friday, December 7th, 1890. (pp. 81.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. William Manning. Edition limited to 205 copies. 25. Scottish Witchcraft Trials. By Bro. J. W. Brodie Innes, Master of the Rolls to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at a Meeting held at Limmer's Hotel, on Friday, November 7th, 1890. (pp. 66.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Alderman Tyler. Edition limited to 245 copies. 8 4 26. Blue and White China. By Bro. Alexander T. Hollingsworth, Artificer to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Delivered at a Meeting of the Sette held at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, February 6th, 1891. (pp. 70.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Alexander T. Hollingsworth. Edition limited to 245 copies. 27. Reading a Poem. A Forgotten Sketch by Wm. M. Thackeray. Communicated by Bro. Chas. Plumptre Johnson, Clerke atte-Lawe to the Sette of Odd Volumes, to the Sette at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, May 1st, 1891. (pp. xi and 66.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Chas. Plumptre Johnson. Edition limited to 321 copies. 28. The Ballades of a Blase Man, to which are added some Rondeaux of his Rejuvenescence, laboriously constructed by the Necromancer to the Sette of Odd Volumes, (pp. 88.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Edward Heron-Allen, in October, 1891. Edition limited to 99 copies. 29. Automata Old and New. By Bro. Conrad W. Cooke, Mechanick to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at a Meeting held at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, November 6th, 1891. (pp. 118.) Presented to the Sette by Bro. Conrad W. Cooke. Edition limited to 255 copies. 30. Ye Magick Mirrour of Old Japan. By Bro. Silvanus P. Thompson, D.Sc., F.R.S., Magnetizer to the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read before the Sette at Limmer’s Hotel, on Friday, December 2nd, 1892. (pp. 96.) Edition limited to 97 copies. * 85 Year-Bokes. I. The Year-Boke of the Odd Volumes : An Annual Record of the Transactions of the Sette. Eleventh Year, 1888-9. Written and compiled by Bro. W. Mort Thompson, Historiographer to the Sette. Issued November 29th, 1890. II. The Year-Boke of the Odd Volumes : An Annual Record of the Transactions of the Sette. Twelfth Year, 1889-90. III. The Year-Boke of the Odd Volumes : An Annual Record of the Transactions of the Sette. Thirteenth Year, 1890-1. Compiled mainly from the Minute Book of the Sette, and imprynted for private circulation only. Edition limited to 133 copies. IV. The Year-Boke of the Odd Volumes, 1891-2. In the Press. Vsjfcp' FOLIA. Originated by Brother Holme, Pilgrim , who PRESENTED EACH BROTHER WITH A Special Portfolio. 1. The Victualling Crew. Presented by Bro. Henry Moore, A.R.A., Ancient Mariner. 2. Proud Maisie, from a drawing by Frederick Sandys. Presented by Bro. Todhunter, Playwright . 3. A Rainy Day in Hakone, Japan. Presented by Bro. Alfred East, Landscape Painter . 4. The Shelley Memorial. Photogravure from the original Statue. Presented by E. Onslow Ford, A.R.A., Sculptor. MISCELLANIES. 1. Inaugural Address of His Oddship, W. M. Thompson, Fourth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on his taking office on April 13th, &c. (pp. 31.) Printed by order of Ye Sette, and issued on May the 4th, 1883. Edition limited to 250 copies. 2. Codex Chiromantiae. Appendix A. Dactylomancy, or Finger-ring Magic, Ancient, Me- diaeval, and Modern, (pp. 34.) Presented on October the 12th, 1883, by Bro. Ed. Heron-Allen. Edition limited to 133 copies. 3. A President’s Persiflage. Spoken by His Oddship W. M. Thompson, Fourth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, at the Fifty-eighth Meeting of the Sette, on December ^th, 1883. (pp. 15.) Edition limited to 250 copies. 4. Inaugural Address of His Oddship Edward F. Wyman, Fifth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on his taking office, on April 4th, 1884, &c. (pp. 56.) Pre- sented to the Sette by His Oddship Edward F. Wyman. Edition limited to 133 copies. 8 7 5- Musical London a Century Ago. Compiled from the Raw Material, by Brother Burnham W. Horner, F.R.S.L., F.R. Hist. S., Organist of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on June 6th, 1884. (pp. 32.) Presented to the Sette by His Odd- ship Edward F. Wyman. Edition limited to 133 copies. 6. The Unfinished Renaissance; Or, Fifty Years of English Art. By Bro. George C. Hait£, Author of “Plant Studies,” &c. Delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Friday, July nth, 1884. (pp. 40.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship Edward F. Wyman. Edition limited to 133 copies. 7. The Pre-Shakespearian Drama. By Bro. Frank Ireson. Delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Friday, January 2nd, 1885. (pp. 34.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship Edward F. Wyman. Edition limited to 133 copies. 8. Inaugural Address of His Oddship, Brother James Roberts Brown, Sixth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on his taking office, on April 17th, 1885, &c. (pp. 56.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship James Roberts Brown. Edition limited to 133 copies. 9. Catalogue of Works of Art Exhibited at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on Friday, July nth, 1884. Lent by Members of the Sette of Odd Volumes. Presented to the Sette by His Oddship Edward F. Wyman. Edition limited to 255 copies. 10. Catalogue of Manuscripts and Early-Printed Books Exhibited and Described by Bro. B. Quaritch, the Librarian of the Sette of Odd Volumes, at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, June 5th, 1885. Presented to the Sette by His Oddship James Roberts Brown. Edition limited to 255 copies. 88 11. Catalogue of Old Organ Music Exhibited by Bro. Bcjrnham W. Horner, F.R.S.L., F.R.Hist.S., Organist of the Sette of Odd Volumes, at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on Friday, February 5th, 1886. Presented to the Sette by His Oddship James Roberts Brown. Edition limited to 133 copies. 12. Inaugural Address of His Oddship Bro. George Clulow, Seventh President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, on his taking office, on April 2nd, 1886, &c. (pp. 64.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship George Clulow. Edition limited to 133 copies. 13. A Few Notes about Arabs. By Bro. Charles Holme, Pilgrim of the Sette of Odd Volumes. Read at a Meeting of the “Sette” at Willis’s Rooms, on Friday, May 7th, 1886. (pp. 46.) Presented to the Sette of Odd Volumes by Bro. Chas. Holme. Edition limited to 133 copies. 14. Account of the Great Learned Societies and Associations, and of the Chief Printing Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland Delivered by Bro. Bernard Quaritch, Librarian of the Sette of Odd Volumes, at Willis’s Rooms on Tuesday, June 8th, 1886. (pp. 66.) Presented bo the Sette by His Oddship George Clulow. Edition limited to 255 copies. 15. Report of a Conversazione Given at Willis’s Rooms, King Street, St. James’s, on Tuesday, June 8th, 1886, by his Oddship Bro. George Clulow, President ; with a summary of an Address on “ Learned Societies and Printing Clubs,” then delivered by Bro. Bernard Quaritch, Librarian. By Bro. W. M. Thompson, Historiographer. Pre- sented to the Sette by His Oddship George Clulow. Edition limited to 255 copies. 16. Codex Chiromantiae. Appendix B . — A Discourse concerning Autographs and their Significations. Spoken in valediction at Willis’s Rooms, on October the 8th, 1886, by Bro. Edward Heron-Allen. (pp. 45.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship George Clulow. Edition limited to 133 copies. 8 9 17. Inaugural Address of His Oddship Alfred J. Davies, Eighth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at Willis’s Rooms, on his taking office on April 4th, 1887. (pp. 64.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship Alfred J. Davies. Edition limited to 133 copies. 18. Inaugural Address of His Oddship Bro. T. C. Venables, Ninth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at Willis’s Rooms, on his taking office on April 6th, 1888. (pp. 54.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship T. C. Venables. Edition limited to 133 copies. 19. Ye Papyrus Roll-Scroll of Ye Sette of Odd Volumes. By Bro. J. Brodie-Innes, Master of the Rolls to the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at Willis’s Rooms, May 4th, 1888. (pp. 39.) Presented to the Sette by His Oddship T. C. Venables. Edition limited to 133 copies. 20. Inaugural Address of His Oddship Bro. H. J. Gordon Ross, Tenth President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, delivered at Willis’s Rooms, King Street, St. James’s Square, on his taking office, April 5th, 1889. Edition limited to 255 copies. WORKS DEDICATED TO THE SETTE. The Ancestry of the Violin. London, 1882. Edward Heron- Allen. An Odd Volume for Smokers. London, 1889. Walter Hamilton. The Blue Friars. London, 1889. W. H. K. Wright. Quatrains. London, 1892. W. Wilsey Martin. ge ^ette of Don Volumes, i ginal Member. iginal Member. iginal Member. iginal Member. iginal Member. iginal Member. 1878. Bernard Quaritch, Librarian , 15, Picca- dilly, W. (President, 1878, 1879, and 1882). 1878. Edward Renton, Herald (Vice-President, 1880; Secretary, 1882). 1878. W. Mort Thompson, Historiographer , 16, Carlyle Square, Chelsea, S.W. (Vice- President, 1882; President, 1883). 1878. Charles W. H. Wyman, Typographer , 103, King Henry's Road, Primrose Hill, N.W. (Vice-President, 1878 and 1879; President, 1880). 1878. Edward F. Wyman, Treasurer , Nirvana, Bellaggio, East Grinstead (Secretary, 1878 and 1879; President, 1884). 1878. Alfred J. Davies, Attorney -General, Fair- light, Uxbridge Road, Ealing, W. (Vice- President, 1881 ; Secretary, 1884 ; President, 1887). 9i 1 878. G. R. Tyler, Alderman of the City of London, Stationer , 17, Penywern Road, South Kensington, W. (Vice-President, 1886). 1879. T. C. Venables, Antiquary , 9, Marlborough Place, N.W. (President, 1888). 1879. J ames Roberts Brown, F. R.G. S. , Alchymist y 44, Tregunter Road, South Kensington, S.W. (Secretary, 1880 ; Vice-President, 1883; President, 1885). 1880. Burnham W. Horner, Organist , 29, Red- cliffe Gardens, South Kensington (Vice-President, 1889). 1882. William Murrell, M.D., Leech (©resilient), 17, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, W. (Secretary, 1883 ; Vice-President, 1885). 1 883. Henry George Liley, Art Director , Radnor House, Radnor Place, Hyde Park, W. 1883. George Charles HAiT£,F.L.S.,and R.B.A., Art Critic , Ormsby Lodge, The Avenue, Bedford Park, W. (Vice-President, 1887 ; President, 1891). 1883. Edward Heron-Allen, Necromancer (&ice* ©resilient), 3, Northwick Terrace, N.W. (Secretary, 1885). 9 2 1884. Wilfrid Ball, R. P. E., Pamter- Etcher, 4, Albemarle Street, W. (Master of Ceremonies, 1890; Vice-President, 1891). 1884. Daniel W. Kettle, F.R.G.S., Cosmogra- pher, Hayes Common, near Beckenham, Kent (Secretary, 1886). 1884. Charles Welsh, Chapman , The Poplars, Forest Lane, Walthamstow (Vice-Pre- sident, 1888). 1886. Charles Holme, F.L.S., Pilgrim , The Red House, Bexley Heath, Kent (Secretary, 1887 ; President, 1890). 1886. Fredk. H. Gervis, M R.C.S., Apothecary, 1, Fellows Road, Haverstock Hill, N.W. 1887. John W. Brodie-Innes, Master of the Rolls, 15, Royal Circus, Edinburgh (Secretary, 1888). 1887. Henry Moore, A.R.A., Ancient Mari?ier , Collingham, Maresfield Gardens, N.W.