HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



97 



ON THE MODE OF LOOKING AT PICTUEES. 



By Sir FREDERICK MONTAGU-POLLOCK, Bam. 



E the old saying be 

 true that "there 

 is nothing new 

 under the sun," 

 I am probably 

 mistaken in sup- 

 posing that the 

 fact, to which I 

 am about to draw 

 attention, has not been pub- 

 lished before. I need only 

 say that I have not met with 

 any mention of it, and I think 

 it worth noticing. 



Most people understand 

 the principle of the stereo- 

 scope. They know that when 

 Nature is looked at with both 

 eyes, each eye sees a some- 

 what different view,— though 

 from the way in which these 

 views are combined, the difference is not generally 

 recognized,— and that, in order to give the true 

 appearance of objects, receding and standing apart 

 from each other (as viewed with both eyes), two 

 different pictures must be taken, which must like- 

 wise be combined by means of lenses, as is done 

 in the stereoscope ; and when this is properly man- 

 aged, the pictures no longer look like flat surfaces, 

 but like the things themselves they are intended to 

 represent, the objects all appearing to be in actual, 

 bond fide relief. 



That a great deal more is seen with two eyes 

 than with one (when looking at things around) can 

 easily be shown by simply holding up a finger at 

 a span's length from the face, and at the same time 

 looking at a small object behind it (such as a 

 thimble) at a distance of a yard or two off. It will 

 be found impossible to make the finger hide the 

 thimble with both eyes open; but if one eye be 

 No. 113. 



shut, the finger can at once be made to conceal 

 the thimble from the sight. 



Again, although a single painting— such as that 

 of a statue in a niche in the wall— may be so well 

 executed that, at a considerable distance, it is 

 almost impossible to decide whether it is a statue 

 or only the representation of one ; and people have 

 been deceived by such mural paintings when look- 

 ing, for instance, from the boxes of a theatre to the 

 walls opposite, under the influence of artificial light ; 

 still, there are no means at present known, or likelj 

 to be known, by which a single drawing (of land- 

 scape-scenery, shipping, buildings, and so forth, 

 whatever its truthfulness or excellence) can be 

 made to represent at a distance, say of from two 

 to five feet, what would be seen with both eyes 

 when looking upon the shipping, buildings, &c., 

 or what would be seen when two stereoscopic 

 pictures are combined : though a single drawing 

 can, and often does, represent very exactly the 

 scene presented to one eye by Nature. And the 

 conclusion to be drawn from this is that the proper 

 mode of looking at a drawing or picture, is to do so 

 with one eye only ; for, if looked at with both eyes, 

 you can immediately detect that it is a mere picture 

 on a flat surface (because, as before stated, there 

 must then be two pictures to make a perfect de- 

 ception), whereas if only one eye is used, and the 

 head is held perfectly still, then (as the mind is 

 precisely under the same circumstances as it would 

 be if the real objects themselves were being looked 

 at with one eye, and having no means of detecting 

 any difference between the representation and the 

 real things represented) at a short distance a draw- 

 ing, after a few seconds, does almost seem to be 

 stereoscopic, or, no longer appears as a mere 

 flat surface : and this is the point to which I wish 

 to draw attention. The same reasoning will of 

 course apply to photographs and good engravings, 

 especially to those of buildings (such as the Forum 



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