1878.] 



The Magic Mirror of Japan. 



131 



pressure in stamping from that part that has been subjected to less. 

 But, as already mentioned, all explanations depending on stamping 

 must at the outset be put on one side when studying the behaviour of 

 Japanese mirrors, since casting, and not stamping, is the process em- 

 ployed in their manufacture. 



In the "Reader" (a paper now extinct) for February, 1866, Mr. 

 Parnell attempts to explain the phenomenon by an inequality in the 

 surface of the mirror, produced by the thinner portion warping more 

 in cooling than the thicker part where the pattern exists, and he endea- 

 vours to experimentally examine this by studying the direct reflection 

 of the globe of a gas-lamp, as seen in the different parts of the mirror. 

 We, as well as Professor Atkinson, have tried to repeat this ex- 

 periment with some magic mirrors in our possession, but we cannot 

 say that it affords any conclusive evidence regarding the cause of the 

 phenomenon. 



It therefore appeared to us a year ago that the subject would repay 

 investigation, an opinion also expressed by Professor Silvanus Thomp- 

 son, who, in writing from University College, Bristol, to "Nature," 

 during June of 1877, suggested that the Japanese mirrors exhibited at 

 the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus in London might, if they 

 showed the phenomenon, be used for such an investigation. And as 

 Professor Atkinson did not propose following up the question himself, 

 he lent us the mirror which he possessed, and cordially agreed with our 

 proposal that we should undertake the investigation. This we have 

 done, and obtained the results which we venture to submit this evening 

 to the Society. 



At the commencement of the inquiry we naturally desired to see 

 what had been written on the subject of Japanese mirrors, and this 

 brought to our notice the information regarding mirrors generally in 

 this country, which, as mentioned at the beginning of this paper, will 

 form, we propose, the substance of a subsequent communication. But, 

 of the magic mirror, Japanese literature (so far as we have been able to 

 ascertain) makes absolutely no mention. 



In "Les Industries Anciennes et Modernes de l'Empire Chinois," 

 published in 1869, by MM. Stanislas Julien and Paul Champion, 

 there is a short article on " Les Miroirs Magiques des Chinois, et leur 

 fabrication," taken from the paper communicated by M. Julien to 

 the French Academy of Sciences. In this he says : — 



"Many famous philosophers have for a long time, but without suc- 

 cess, endeavoured to find out the true cause of the phenomenon 

 which has caused certain metallic mirrors constructed in China to 

 have acquired the name of magic mirrors. Even in the country itself 

 where they are made no European has, up to the present time, been able 

 to obtain either from the manufacturers, or from men of letters, the 

 information, which is so full of interest to us, because the former keep 



