_A Photographic Query._--Is it probable that the number of stones and
marbles which, without the aid of art, represent human and other figures,
may have been natural photographs from the reflection of objects in a
strong glare of sunlight? Some of those mentioned by D'Israeli in the
_Curiosities of Literature_ are so singular, that if this interpretation be
not admitted, we must suspect them to be factitious. One particular example
will serve as an illustration:
"Pancirollus, in his _Lost Antiquities_, attests that in a church at
Rome, a marble perfectly represented a priest celebrating mass and
raising the host. Paul III. conceiving that art had been used, scraped
the marble to discover whether any painting had been employed: but
nothing of the kind was discovered."
Its classification amongst _Lost Antiquities_ seems to imply that the
operation destroyed it, which proves that the figures were only on the
surface; an argument in favour of its being a natural photograph. Any
powerful die would have penetrated the pores of the stone for some
considerable distance.