One of the most beautiful as well as the most remarkable pictorial
illusions is produced by the combination of two views into one by the
recently invented instrument called the Stereoscope. In the Diorama, in
the Magic Disc, and in the Dissolving Views, separate paintings combine
to produce different effects; but in the Stereoscope the two pictures
unite into one to give additional effect to the same view, and to make
that which is a flat surface, when seen singly, appear to project like
a solid body.
The principle of the Stereoscope depends on the different appearance
which near objects present when seen by the right or by the left eye.
For instance, on looking at a book placed edgewise, with the right eye,
the back and one side of the book will be perceived; and on closing
the right eye and opening the left, the back and the other side of the
book will be seen, and the right-hand side will be invisible. It is the
combination of both these views by vision with two eyes that produces
the impression of solidity of objects on the mind; and if the different
appearances which the book presents to each eye be copied in separate
drawings, and they can afterwards be placed in such a position as to
form a united image on the retinæ of the eyes, the same effect is
produced as if the book itself were looked upon.
[Illustration]
This diagram represents the outlines of a near object, as seen by each
eye separately. The one on the right hand shows it as seen with the
right eye, and the other as it looks with the left eye; and if both
drawings be combined into one image, it stands out in bold relief.
This may be done without any instrument, by squinting at them; but
the effect is more readily and far more agreeably produced by the
Stereoscope, so named from the Greek words στερος {steros}, solid, and
σκοπεω {skopeô}, to see.
Professor Wheatstone claims to be the first who contrived an instrument
to illustrate this effect of binocular vision, and he also claims to be
the first who brought to notice the different appearances of objects
seen with each eye separately. Sir David Brewster, however, disputes,
on behalf of Mr. Elliot, of Edinburgh, Professor Wheatstone's claim to
the invention of the first stereoscopic instrument; and he has shown
that the difference of vision with each eye was remarked by Galen,
1,700 years ago; that it was noticed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1500, and
formed the subject of a treatise by a Jesuit, named Francis Aquilonius,
in 1613; and that it was a well-known phenomenon of vision long before
it was mentioned by Professor Wheatstone.[5] Mr. Elliot, though he
conceived the idea, in 1834, of constructing an instrument for uniting
two dissimilar pictures, did not carry it into effect until 1839, the
year after Mr. Wheatstone had exhibited his reflecting Stereoscope to
the Royal Society, and at the meeting of the British Association.
Mr. Elliot's contrivance, to which Sir David Brewster is inclined to
give precedence in point of date, was very inferior in its effects
to the reflecting Stereoscope. It was without lenses or mirrors, and
consisted of a wooden box 18 inches long, 7 inches broad, and 4½ deep,
and at the end of it was placed the dissimilar pictures, as seen by
each eye, that were to be united into one. The view he drew for the
purpose comprised the moon, a cross, and the stump of a tree, at
different distances; and when looked at in the box, the cross and the
stump of the tree appeared to stand out in relief.
The accompanying woodcut represents the original stereoscopic pictures,
copied from Sir David Brewster's book; and by looking towards the
picture on the left with the right eye, and on the right-hand picture
with the left eye, the two will be seen united, and the cross and the
stump of the tree will appear to stand out solidly.
[Illustration]
The arrangement of the apparatus, as described by Professor Wheatstone,
in his paper read before the Royal Society, consists of two plane
mirrors, about 4 inches square, placed at right angles; and the
drawings, made on separate pieces of paper, were reflected to the eyes
looking into the mirrors at their junction. The diagram is a sketch of
this arrangement. In the middle of a narrow slip of wood, _d e_, about
12 inches long, the two mirrors, _a b_, are fixed, inclined at the
required angle from their line of junction at _c_. Upright pieces of
wood, _d h_, _e f_, at each end, are furnished with slides or clips to
hold the drawings, which are reflected from the inclined mirrors, and
seen in them by each eye separately. Thus, the left eye sees only the
picture fixed on _d h_, and the right eye sees the one placed at _e f_;
and the two images, being combined at the seat of vision, produce the
same impression as a solid body.
[Illustration]
It is almost unnecessary to describe the external appearance of the
lenticular instrument invented by Sir David Brewster, and explained by
him at the meeting of the British Association in 1849. In the best kind
of instruments the glasses, through which the pictures are seen, are
composed of a single large double-convex lens, divided in the middle,
the thin edges being set towards each other, about 2½ inches apart. The
more improved instruments, indeed, are made from lenses upwards of 3
inches in diameter, which, being cut into two, and the thin parts being
ground flat, are set edge to edge, and from an aperture sufficiently
large for both eyes to look through. By this means the instrument
suits all eyes, without requiring adjustment, and the field of view is
increased. A diaphragm, or partition, placed at the junction of the two
lenses, confines the vision of each eye to its appropriated picture,
and thus tends to prevent the confusion of images that might otherwise
arise.
The object of using semi-lenses is to facilitate the union of the two
pictures into one, by looking through the lens towards its edge,
instead of through the centre, the image being thus refracted to a
different position. This may be easily exemplified by looking at an
object steadily through different parts of the same lens. After looking
at it with the right eye through the centre, and whilst keeping the
axis of the eye in the same direction, move the lens slowly towards the
right, so as to bring the edge of the lens opposite the pupil. This
movement of the lens towards the right hand will be accompanied by an
apparent movement of the image towards the left, so as to bring it to a
point between the two eyes. If the experiment be repeated with the left
eye, the image will be removed towards the right hand; and thus, by
looking at the two stereoscopic pictures through the thin parts of two
lenses, the images are superposed and form a single one.
Sir David Brewster attached much importance to the semi-lenses, which
have the effect of prisms in refracting the rays of light; but that
form of lens is not essential to give apparent solidity to the images;
and many of the commoner kind of instruments are now made with ordinary
double-convex lenses, and without any partition. With the semi-lens,
however, there is less difficulty in uniting the two pictures into one
than when an ordinary lens is employed.
In taking photographic pictures for the Stereoscope with a single
camera, it is necessary to alter the angle of the instrument after
having taken one picture, to direct it to the same object in the
angle of vision as seen by the other eye. This method of producing
stereoscopic pictures with the same camera is very objectionable when
any moving objects are in the field; for they will be in a different
position in each, and sometimes disappear altogether from the second
picture. The plan adopted by the best photographers is to have two
cameras set at the requisite angle to each other, so that both pictures
or portraits may be taken at the same time.
At the meeting of the British Association in 1853, M. Claudet
endeavoured to establish some rules for the angle at which photographic
pictures must be taken, in order to produce the best effect of relief
and distance without exaggeration. He observed, that in looking at a
single picture with two eyes, there is less relief and less distance
than when looking at it with one eye, because in the latter case we
have the same effect we are accustomed to feel when we look at the
natural objects with one eye; while, if we look at the single picture
with two eyes, we have on the two retinæ the same image with the same
perspective, which is not natural, and the eyes have not to make the
usual effort for altering their convergence according to the plane on
which the object observed is situated. This inaction of the convergence
of the eyes diminishes the illusion of the picture, because the same
convergence for all the objects represented gives an idea that they
are all placed on the same plane. The photographic image being the
representation of two different perspectives, we must, when we look
at them in the Stereoscope, as when looking at the natural objects
themselves, converge, more or less, the axes of the eyes. Therefore
we make the same effort, and have the same sensation in regarding
the combined photographic pictures, as when we look at the objects
represented.
Sir David Brewster has suggested various applications of the
Stereoscope; viz., to painting, to sculpture and engineering, to
natural history, to education, and to purposes of amusement. The latter
is the principal purpose to which the instrument is at present applied;
and some of the many ways in which it may contribute to delight the
spectator are pointed out in Sir David Brewster's book.
"For the purpose of amusement," he observes, "the photographer might
carry us even into the regions of the supernatural. His art enables
him to give a spiritual appearance to one or more of his figures,
and to exhibit them as 'thin air,' amid the solid realities of the
stereoscopic picture. While a party are engaged with their whist or
their gossip, a female figure appears in the midst of them with all the
attributes of the supernatural. Her form is transparent; every object
or person beyond her being seen in shadowy but distinct outline. She
may occupy more than one place in the scene, and different portions
of the group might be made to gaze upon one or other of the visions
before them. In order to produce such a scene, the parties which are
to compose the group must have their portraits nearly finished in the
binocular camera, in the attitude which they may be supposed to assume
if the vision were real. When the party have nearly sat the proper
length of time, the female figure, suitably attired, walks quickly to
the place assigned to her, and after standing a few seconds in the
proper attitude, retires quickly, or takes as quickly a second, or even
a third, place in the picture, if it is required, in each of which she
remains a few seconds, so that her picture in these different positions
may be taken with sufficient distinctness in the negative photograph.
If these operations have been well performed, all the objects
immediately behind the female figure, having been previous to her
introduction impressed upon the negative surface, will be seen through
her, and she will have the appearance of an aërial personage, unlike
the other figures in the picture."
It is in the foregoing manner that the remarkable stereoscopic effect
of "Sir David Brewster's ghost" is produced, a representation of which
is given in the next page.
Sir David Brewster mentions many other curious applications of the
Stereoscope, among which are the dioramic effects of pictures seen
alternately by reflected and by transmitted light; a daylight view
being apparently lighted up artificially in the night, by seeing it at
one time with the light reflected from the surface, and then excluding
the light from the front, and viewing it as a transparency.
One of the most interesting effects of the Stereoscope has been
recently produced by Mr. De la Rue, who has contrived the means of
giving apparent rotundity to the surface of the moon, as viewed
through a powerful telescope. The disc of the full moon, however
highly magnified, presents, as is well-known, the appearance of a flat
surface, with the lights and shadows marked seemingly on a plane.
Owing to the great distance of that luminary, there is no variation
in its appearance, whether it be looked at with one eye or with the
other, therefore it seems removed beyond the operation of the ordinary
cause of stereoscopic effects. Nevertheless, Mr. De la Rue has taken
photographs of the moon which, when placed in the Stereoscope, combine
to form a solid-looking globe, on which all the lights and shadows are
distinctly and beautifully delineated. He has produced this effect by
taking his photographs at different periods of the year, when there is
a slight variation in the direction of the moon's face to the earth;
and by combining these separate photographs into one image in the
Stereoscope, the form of the moon appears as convex as the surface of
an artificial globe.
[Illustration]
M. Claudet, who is one of the most successful photographers in
the metropolis, has contrived an arrangement which he calls a
"Stereomonoscope," by which the appearance of solidity is communicated
to a single image formed on a screen of ground glass. The screen of
ground glass has a black back, and is placed in the focus of a lens in
an ordinary camera obscura, wherein the image may be seen by looking
down upon it. The particles of the roughened glass reflect to each
eye different parts of the image focused on the screen, and by this
means a similar effect is produced as when two dissimilar pictures are
looked at through a stereoscope instrument. One great advantage of this
arrangement is that several persons may look at the image at the same
time.
Mr. John Sang, of Kirkaldy, has very recently imparted stereoscopic
effect to copies of paintings and engravings, the flat surfaces of
which were previously thought to defy any such application of the
Stereoscope. The means he employs of doing so are at present kept
secret, but he has shown its practicability by copying, on wood
engravings, Mr. George Cruikshank's series of "The Bottle." In some
respects this process seems almost more wonderful than the original
Stereoscope, for it gives solid form and apparent substantiality to the
mere creations of the artist's pencil.