THE ISLE OF CAPRI 



221 



Photograph by Edith P. Kingman 



FISHING IS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS OF THE MEN OF CAPRI 



Cultivation of the olive tree and of the vine are also profitable pursuits, but the inhabitants 

 rely chiefly upon the annual tourists' crop for their livelihood. 



flict. At any rate, it shows that the 

 .great Archimedes, at least, had found 

 some use for mirrors other than the 

 usual one. 



THE USE OF MIRRORS BY THE ROMANS 



In imperial times the Romans had 

 •mirrors large enough to reflect the en- 

 tire person ; they even had mirrors of 

 .•glass backed with tin instead of quick- 

 silver. 



Although there are no references in 

 ancient writings to the use of signaling 

 "by mirrors, such a simple and effective 

 method surely must have been employed. 

 A most significant thing is the old story 

 ■of a mirror on the Alexandrian Pharos: 



"Alexander the Great placed on the 

 top cf the tower a mirror constructed 

 with so much art that by means of it he 

 •could see the fleets of his enemies at 100 

 leagues distance" ; and, to enter still more 

 into particulars, "a Greek named Sodorus, 

 .after the death of Alexander, broke the 



mirror while the garrison of the town 

 was asleep." 



Now any tradition, no matter how dis- 

 torted, has its roots in truth ; and this 

 one leaves us with the feeling that there 

 zi'as a mirror on the -tower. • The most 

 likely reason for its presence there is 

 that it was used to signal with in day- 

 light hours ; in other words, it was used 

 for heliographing. 



Signaling was certainly a common 

 military practice among the ancients, 

 and ancient writers, such as Virgil, 

 JEschylus, and Herodotus, frequently 

 alluded to it. 



CODE MESSAGES OF THE ANCIENTS 



An 



of lone-distance 



signaling bv 



relaying is mentioned by 

 Herodotus, in which it appears that cer- 

 tain tidings were sent to Xerxes in Asia 

 by means of a line of beacon fires ar- 

 ranged through the Greek islands. 



The ancients went further than sim- 



