David Brewster

“ He will see heaps of windows and of walls, some of the heaps being much larger than others; and some being farther from, and others nearer to, the centre; and some being dark, and others luminous; while all of them are disunited. Let him now take a Telescopic Kaleidoscope, and direct it to the same object; he will instantly perceive the most perfect order arise out of confusion, and he will not scruple to acknowledge, that no two things in nature can be more different than the effects which are produced by these two combinations of mirrors. ”

“ The association, indeed, is not so powerful in the one case as in the other, for we have been taught from our infancy, in consequence of the connexion of music and poetry, to associate particular sentiments with particular sounds; but there can be no doubt that the association of colour is naturally as powerful as that of sound, and that a person who has never listened to any other music but that of nature, nor seen any other colours but those of the material world, might have his feelings as powerfully excited through the medium of the eye as through that of the ear. ”

“ If it be true that there are harmonic colours which inspire more pleasure by their combination than others; that dull and gloomy masses, moving slowly before the eye, excite feelings of sadness and distress; and that the aërial tracery of light and evanescent forms, enriched with lively colours, are capable of inspiring us with cheerfulness and gaiety; then it is unquestionable, that, by a skilful combination of these passing visions, the mind may derive a degree of pleasure far superior to that which arises from the immediate impression which they make upon the organ of vision. ”

“ When the object-box is wide, certain insects may be introduced temporarily, without killing or injuring them, and the crystallization of certain salts from their solution, and other chemical changes, may be curiously exhibited.
Hitherto we have supposed all colours to be indiscriminately adopted in the selection of objects; but it will be found from experience, that though the eye is pleased with the combination of various objects, yet it derives this pleasure from the beauty and symmetry of the outline, and not from the union of many different tints. ”

“ Flashes of light, coloured and colourless, and clouds of different depths of shadow, advancing into, or emerging from the centre of symmetry, or passing across the radial lines of the figure at different obliquities, would assist in marking more emphatically the gay or the gloomy sounds with which they are accompanied. ”

“ Colour is a mere accident of light, which communicates richness and variety to objects that are otherwise beautiful; but perfection of form is a source of beauty, independent of all colours; and it is therefore only from a combination of these two sources of beauty that a sensation of pleasure can be excited. [Pg 159]
Those who have been in the habit of using a correct Kaleidoscope, furnished with proper objects, will have no hesitation in admitting that this instrument realizes, in the fullest manner, the formerly chimerical idea of an ocular harpsichord. ”

“ If the eye is placed so obliquely to the looking-glass, that the hand no longer interferes with its image, it will still be seen, that parts of the hand which are not directly visible, are visible in its reflected image, and therefore that a symmetrical picture cannot be created by the union of two parts apparently dissimilar. If the eye of the observer is placed near his hand, so that he can see distinctly both the hand and its image, the angular magnitude of his hand is much greater than that of its image; and therefore, when the two are united, they cannot form a symmetrical object. ”

“ If, instead of supposing a mathematical line to be the object, we take a single piece of coloured glass, with an irregular outline, we shall have no difficulty in perceiving, from experiment, that an infinite variety of figures may be created from it alone. This system of endless changes is one of the most extraordinary properties of the Kaleidoscope. With a number of loose objects, it is impossible to reproduce any figure which we have admired. When it is once lost, centuries may elapse before the same combination returns. ”

“ The human figure consists of two halves, one of which is the reflected image of the other; and the same symmetry of form presents itself in the shapes of almost all the various tribes of animated beings. In the structure of vegetables, the principle of symmetry is less perfectly developed. From the extreme delicacy and elasticity of its parts, a plant, regularly constructed, would have lost all its symmetry from the influence of gravitation, or from the slightest breath of wind; and therefore a symmetrical combination of parts has been effected only in its leaves and flowers. ”

“ When we consider the immense variety of professions connected both with the fine and the useful arts, in which the creation of symmetrical ornaments forms a necessary part, we cannot fail to attach a high degree of utility to any instrument by which the operations of the artist may be facilitated and improved. We are disposed to imagine that no machine is really useful, unless it is directly employed in providing for our more urgent wants. ”

“ If we examine the various objects of art which have exercised the skill and ingenuity of man, we shall find that they derive all their beauty from the symmetry of their form, and that one work of art excels another in proportion as it exhibits a more perfect development of this principle of beauty. ”

“ The position of the eye, for symmetry of light, and for symmetry of form;—the position of the mirrors, to produce a perfect junction of the last sectors;—the position of the object necessary to produce an equality and perfect junction between the object and the reflected images;—and the method of accomplishing this for objects at all distances, were fundamental points, in the combination of plane mirrors, which, so far as I know, have never been investigated by any author. ”

“ If we take the simple Kaleidoscope, and holding an object-box in contact with the reflectors, gradually withdraw it to a distance, the picture, which is at first perfect in every part, will, at the distance of one-tenth of an inch, begin to be distorted at the centre, from the disunion of the reflected images; the distortion will gradually extend itself to the circumference, and at the distance of eighteen inches, or less, from the reflectors, all the symmetry and beauty of the pattern will disappear. ”

“ The image of a distant, or even of a near object, can be formed within the reflectors, and in the mathematical position of symmetry; while, at the same time, the substitution of the image for the object itself, enables us to produce all the changes in the picture which the motion of the object could have effected, merely by turning the instrument round its axis, or by moving it horizontally, or in any other direction across the object. ”

“ It is a curious circumstance, that the positions of the eye which are necessary to effect a complete union of the images—to represent similar parts of the object and its images—to observe the object and its image under the same angular magnitude, and to give a maximum intensity of light to the reflected images—should all unite in the same point. ”

“ Hence we conclude in general, that when an object is placed at any distance before two mirrors inclined at an angle, which is an even aliquot part of 360°, the symmetry of the picture is perfect, when the eye, considered as a mathematical point, is placed at E, and that the deviation from symmetry increases as the eye recedes from E towards ε. ”

“ When the inclination of the reflectors is great, the objects, or the fragments of coloured glass, should be larger than when the inclination is small; for when small fragments are presented before a large aperture, the pattern which is created has a spotted appearance, and derives no beauty from the inversion of the images, in consequence of the outline of each separate fragment not joining with the inverted image of it. ”

“ When we consider, that in this busy island thousands of individuals are wholly occupied with the composition of symmetrical designs, and that there is scarcely any profession into which these designs do not enter as a necessary part, so as to employ a portion of the time of every artist, we shall not hesitate in admitting, that an instrument must have no small degree of utility which abridges the labour of so many individuals. ”

“ When the simple Kaleidoscope is applied to opaque objects, such as a seal, a watch-chain, the seconds hands of a watch, coins, pictures, gems, shells, flowers, leaves, and petals of plants, impressions from seals, etc., the object, instead of being held between the eye and the light, must be viewed in the same manner as we view objects through a microscope, being always placed as near the instrument as possible, and so as to allow the light to fall freely upon the object. ”