(This is certainly one of the most ingenious books of the season, and
independently of its place as a volume of the _Family Library_, it has
substantive claims which we trust will not he overlooked. It is from the
graceful pen of Sir David Brewster, who possesses, in a high degree, the
peculiar talent of investing scientific inquiries with the charm of
popular delight; in short, of making science easy, and often conveying
in a single chapter what others labour to effect in a volume. He, in
truth, teaches us the sweet uses of science.
The present work appears to be the suggestion of Sir Walter Scott, to
whom it is addressed in letters. We can give but a faint idea of the
extent and interest of its subject, which ranges from the magic of the
ancients to the intoxicating gas of the moderns; yet the purpose of the
work is mainly to trace the connexion of those prodigies of the material
world which are termed Natural Magic, with scientific causes. Thus, in
the introductory letter, the writer observes on the resources of ancient
magic:--)
The secret use which was thus made of scientific discoveries and of
remarkable inventions, has no doubt prevented many of them from reaching
the present times; but though we are very ill informed respecting the
progress of the ancients in various departments of the physical
sciences, yet we have sufficient evidence that almost every branch of
knowledge had contributed its wonders to the magician's budget, and we
may even obtain some insight into the scientific acquirements of former
ages, by a diligent study of their fables and their miracles.
(In the second letter, upon Ocular Illusions, is the following beautiful
passage on the Eye:--)
This wonderful organ may be considered as the sentinel which guards the
pass between the worlds of matter and of spirit, and through which all
their communications are interchanged. The optic nerve is the channel by
which the mind peruses the hand-writing of Nature on the retina, and
through which it transfers to that material tablet its decisions and its
creations. The eye is consequently the principal seat of the
supernatural. When the indications of the marvellous are addressed to us
through the ear, the mind may be startled without being deceived, and
reason may succeed in suggesting some probable source of the illusion by
which we have been alarmed. But when the eye in solitude sees before it
the forms of life, fresh in their colours and vivid in their outline;
when distant or departed friends are suddenly presented to its view;
when visible bodies disappear and reappear without any intelligible
cause; and when it beholds objects, whether real or imaginary, for whose
presence no cause can be assigned, the conviction of supernatural agency
becomes under ordinary circumstances unavoidable. Hence it is not only
an amusing but an useful occupation to acquire a knowledge of those
causes which are capable of producing so strange a belief, whether it
arises from the delusions which the mind practises upon itself, or from
the dexterity and science of others.
(The Optical phenomena, as might be expected, are most abundant, as they
include the subject of spectral illusions and apparitions, and natural
phenomena marked with the marvellous. The properties of Sound are next
in interest; among them we find explained the wonder of singers breaking
glasses with their great power of voice; the automaton flute-player,
talking engines, echoes, &c. The Mechanical causes are less numerous:
among them we are glad to see _noticed_ the feat of lifting heavy
persons, which we ourselves have often seen accomplished; but Sir David
Brewster does not supply the cause. As the matter may be new to many
readers, we quote the two relating pages.)
One of the most remarkable and inexplicable experiments relative to the
strength of the human frame, which you have yourself seen and admired,
is that in which a heavy man is raised with the greatest facility, when
he is lifted up the instant that his own lungs and those of the persons
who raise him are inflated with air. This experiment was, I believe,
first shown in England a few years ago by Major H., who saw it performed
in a large party at Venice under the direction of an officer of the
American Navy. As Major H. performed it more than once in my presence, I
shall describe as nearly as possible the method which he prescribed. The
heaviest person in the party lies down upon two chairs, his legs being
supported by the one and his back by the other. Four persons, one at
each leg, and one at each shoulder, then try to raise him, and they find
his dead weight to be very great, from the difficulty they experience in
supporting him. When he is replaced in the chair, each of the four
persons takes hold of the body as before, and the person to be lifted
gives two signals by clapping his hands. At the first signal he himself
and the four lifters begin to draw a long and full breath, and when the
inhalation is completed, or the lungs filled, the second signal is
given, for raising the person from the chair. To his own surprise and
that of his bearers, he rises with the greatest facility, as if he were
no heavier than a feather. On several occasions I have observed that
when one of the bearers performs his part ill, by making the inhalation
out of time, the part of the body which he tries to raise is left as it
were behind. As you have repeatedly seen this experiment, and have
performed the part both of the load and of the bearer, you can testify
how remarkable the effects appear to all parties, and how complete is
the conviction, either that the load has been lightened, or the bearer
strengthened by the prescribed process. At Venice the experiment was
performed in a much more imposing manner. The heaviest man in the party
was raised and sustained upon the points of the fore-fingers of six
persons. Major H. declared that the experiment would not succeed if the
person lifted were placed upon a board, and the strength of the
individuals applied to the board. He conceived it necessary that the
bearers should communicate directly with the body to be raised. I have
not had an opportunity of making any experiments relative to these
curious facts; but whether the general effect is an illusion, or the
result of known or of new principles, the subject merits a careful
investigation.
(In connexion with walking along the ceiling is noticed the beautiful
contrivance of the foot of the house-fly and gecko, and the head of the
sucking-fish. To the next portion, Chemistry has supplied fewer wonders
than we expected: they occupy but fifty pages.
The examples in this book are the most quotable portion, but the
majority of them would be new to few readers: who, for instance, is
unacquainted with the feats of Topham, the strong man, or the Invisible
Girl. The explanations are not so easily transferable, since they are
generally accompanied by illustrations.
By the way, how many of these wonders are recorded in the early volumes
of the Philosophical Transactions, with all the gravity of the FF.R.S.
whose zeal, industry, and emulation rendered the early years of the
Society peculiarly brilliant. The very titles of some of the early
papers would make a "wonderful museum;" as Four Suns observed in
France--Worms that eat Stones and Mortar--which are almost as marvellous
as one of Sir David Brewster's lines--a coach and four filled with
skeletons. The Royal Society has now existed a century and
three-quarters: in their early Transactions are inquiries relative to
the tides--observations on the darting threads of spiders--"experiments
about respiration"--"of red snow seen at Genoa," &c.; yet scores of
philosophers, at the present moment, are controverting these very
subjects.)
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