MAGIC LANTERN. 159 



figure began to appear, and gradually grew larger and 

 larger, and approached the spectators till it attained its 

 perfect development. In this manner, the head of Dr. 

 Franklin was transformed into a skull; figures which 

 retired with the freshness of life came back in the form 

 of skeletons, and the retiring skeletons returned in the 

 drapery of flesh and blood. 



The exhibition of these transmutations was followed by 

 spectres, skeletons, and terrific figures, which, instead of 

 receding and vanishing as before, suddenly advanced 

 upon the spectators, becoming larger as they approached 

 them, and finally vanished by appearing to sink into the 

 ground. The effect of this part of the exhibition was 

 naturally the most impressive. The spectators were not 

 only surprised but agitated, and many of them were of 

 opinion that they could have touched the figures. M. 

 Robertson, at Paris, introduced along with his pictures the 

 direct shadows of living objects, which imitated coarsely 

 the appearance of those objects in a dark night or in 

 moonlight. 



All these phenomena were produced by varying the 

 distance of the magic lantern A B, Fig. 5, from the screen 

 P Q, which remained fixed, and at the same time keeping 

 the image upon the screen distinct, by increasing the 

 distance of the lens D from the sliders in E F. When 

 the lantern approached to P Q, the circle of light P Q, or 

 the section of the cone of rays P D Q, gradually dimi- 

 nished, and resembled a small bright cloud, when D was 

 close to the screen. At this time a new figure was put 

 in, so that when the lantern receded from the screen, the 

 old figure seemed to have been transformed into the new 

 one. Although the figure was always at the same distance 

 from the spectators, yet, owing to its gradual diminution 

 in size, it necessarily appeared to be retiring to a distance. 

 When the magic lantern was withdrawn from P Q, and 



