Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

MIRAGE . This is the name applied to certain optical illusions , due to the curving of rays of light as they pass through the atmosphere . The illusory appearance may take one or other of three forms : objects may simply seem very much elevated , or they may be elevated and inverted , or , lastly , they may seem depressed and inverted . Because rays usi-ally travel in straight lines we cannot see round corners , nor can we see objects below the horizon , but ,

sometimes , because of the peculiar state of the atmosphere the rays of light are so bent that when they reach the eye they make distant objects seem in a higher position than they actually are . In this way bodies that are really below the horizon may seem elevated above it , and though at a great distance , may thus become visible . This sort of thing is usually seen across water , and among nautical men it is known as " looming . " Not

unfreijuently objects that "loom" seem unusually near , and are magnified vertically , so as to appear like spires or columns . Snowdon is now and then seen by pilots in Dublin Bay , although the difference between them is over ioo miles as the crow flies . The Isle of Wight has several times been visible from Brighton ; and the cliffs near Calais have been seen from Ramsgate , the distance in both cases being about 60 miles . But it is in

tropical seas that the most remarkable instances have occurred . A good many years ago a pilot in Mauritius reported that he had seen a vessel which turned out to be 200 miles off . The incident caused a good deal of discussion in nautical circles ; and , strange to say , a seemingly wellauthenticated case of the same kind occurred afterwards at Aden . A pilot there announced that he had seen from the heights the Bombay steamer

then nearly due . He stated precisely the direction in which he saw her , and added that her head was not then turned towards the port . This caused some alarm , and a steamer lying in the harbour was sent out to tow in the vessel supposed to be disabled . It cruised about in the direction indicated for a whole day without success ; but two days afterwards the missing steamer entered the port , and it was found on inquiry that at the time mentioned by the pilots she was exactly in

the direction and position indicated by him , but about 200 miles off . To prove that there is no hallucination in statements like these , evidence would be required as conclusive as that needed to establish the reality of the great sea-serpent . Sometimes , however , objects are not only elevated , but inverted . This appearance is very common in Polar seas , the inversion being due to the rays from the lower part of the distant object being more bent than those from the upper part . Sailors see it best from a lofty position , such as the mast-head . A well-known case occurred off the coast of Greenland in

1822 , when Capt . Scoresby was made aware of the nearness of his father ' s ship by recognising its inverted image in the sky ; and in 1 S 54 the whole English fleet of 19 sail was seen as if suspended in the air , up side down , by those on board H . M . S . Archer , cruising 50 miles away off Oesil in the Baltic . It is not unusual to see two or three different horizons with images of a distant vessel alternately inverted and upright . Cold , heavy air over water is

just as it were in the opposite condition from warm , light air over a sandy desert—hence in the latter case the rays are bent in the opposite direction , and seem to come from an object below the real one . So that in the mirage of the desert the observer sees the distant object directly through the uniform part of the air between himself and it , and he likewise sees an inverted image below , as if caused by reflection in a sheet of water . Indeed ,

travellers across the desert have often been cheated by the appearance . A Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia once reported the existence of a large inland lake there . He did not take the precaution to go up to it , and when the lake was afterwards sought for , it vvas found that he had been deceived by the mirage . The mirage can be seen nearly every day in the plains of lower Egypt , and also , to a limited extent , in the plains of

Hungary and Southern France . Now and then , something of the kind can be seen in summer , by stooping do . vn and looking along our sandy coasts , such as Morecambe Bay , and the coast of Devonshire , or over the Fen district , at that season dried up by the summer heat . We must remembpr that the mirage of the Desert creates nothing , but merely invests bodies that actually exist a little distance off ; though in the Sahara , skylight rays

descending are bent upwards by the hot air next ihe sand , and the eye is actually deluded by an impression resembling the reflection ol skylight from water , the illusion being increased by the flickering due to convection currents , suggesting the effects of a breeze on the water . Many of ths descriptions given of the mirage are " travellers' tales , " in the

uncomplimentary sense . One of the most absurdly extravagant examples of this , is the following : "This treacherous phenomenon deludes the traveller ' s eye , with a regular succession of beautiful lakes and shady avenues ; and then , again , with an expanse of waving grass around a picture-que villa ; here is presented a grove of towering trees ; there , a flock of bro , 1 sing cattle .

State Of Painting Under Mary I.

STATE OF PAINTING UNDER MARY I .

{ Contitiited ) . Another artist in this reign was Joas V ; oi Cleeve , or Soito Clecfe , / 1 \ , crazy Cletf , an industrious painter of Antwerp , his colouring was good , and his figuies fleshy and round , but before he arrived at the perfection he might have attained , his head vvas turned with vanity—a misfortune not uncommon to the profession , who living secluded from the world , and seeing

little but their own creation rising around them , grow intoxicated with the magic of their own performances . Cleeve came to England , expecting great prices for his pictures from King Philip , who was making a collection , but , unluckily , some of the works ol Titian arrived at the same time . Cleeve begged the recomnundation of Sir Antonio More , his countryman , but Philip was tco much charmed with the beauties of the Venetian master , and

overlooked the labours of the Fleming . This neglect completed his frenzy , the storm of which first vented itself on Sir Antonio . Cleeve abused him , undervaluing his works , and bidding him return to Utrecht , and keep his wife from the canons . At last the poor man grew quite frantic , painted his c ' othes , and spoiled his own pictures , till they vvere obliged to confu . e him , in which wretched condition he probably died . He had a

son lhat followed his profession , and vvas , it is said , no despicable artist . There ir a portrait of Joas , painted by himself , with a black cap and fur gown , open a greenish ground , and one of his wife , which vvere purchased by King Charles I ., who had , also ( if this master , a picture of Mars and Venus . James II . had of his painting the judgment of Paris and the Birth of Chiist with Angels . The Duke of Buckingham had a portrait of a man ,

State Of Painting Under Mary I.

and Sir Peter Lely a Bacchanalian , 2 ft . 1 in . wide by 3 ft . 4 in . high . Grants in this reign vvere given to another painter , who , it seems , had been in the service , too , of Henry and Edward . His name was Nicholas Lysard ; he had a pension for life of ^ 10 a year , and the same fee charged on the customs as had been granted to the serjeant painters John Brown and Andrew Wright . Of Lysard there is only a mention that in a roll of

Queen Elizabeth's New Year's gifts he presents her with a picture of the history of Ahasuerus , and her Majesty gives him one gilt cruse and cover . This was in the first year of her reign . He died in her service 1570 . In the register of St . Martin ' s is this entry , " 5 th April buried Nicholas Lysard , serjeant painter unto the Queen ' s majestie . " There was in this reign another persion too illustrious a lover and even practiser of the art to

be omitted . This was Edward Courtenay ( the last Earl of Devonshire ) , the comeliness of whose person was very near raising him to that throne , for nearness to which in blood he was a prisoner from 10 years old ; and from that time to 30 , when he died , he scarce enjoyed two years of liberty . When Oueen Mary released him she restored him , too , to the

Marquisate of Exeter , though that title is omitted by all our historians when they mention him . Strype says that it was a happiness peculiar to him to te able to amuse himself with drawing in an age in which there were so many prisoners and so few resources , but , strictly speaking , this unfortunate nobleman was a lover but not a practiser of art . ( To he continued . )

Haymarket Theatre.

HAYMARKET THEATRE .

A long stay abroad has caused our theatrical notices to be somewhat in arrear . Last week vve visited the above theatre . After a very successful run , the " School for . Scandal " was played for the last time on Saturday evening . By many this comedy is considered to be the masterpiece of the brilliant writer , Richard Brinsley Sheridan , but for our part we much prefer " The Rivals . " Taken as a whole , there is more of human interest in the

one than the other . We must admit that the celebrated screen scene in " The School for Scandal " transcends anything that Sheridan has ever written . The gradual , yet natural , manner in which the action of the scene reaches its climax is admirably shown—there is no artificial straining for effect , each event follows in due sequence . The scenes , however , of the Scandal coterie are too lengthy , and become very tedious . Though , in a

somewhat exaggerated form , they represent the manners of the time in which the comedy was written , they do not in the present age elicit our sympathy . Then , again , the character of Maria , of which so much might have been made , is absolutely colourless and is devoid of interest . A few words must suffice in respect of the exponents of the comedy . Miss Winifred Emery , our favourite actress , who achieves a succession of triumphs , has certainly

made her mark as Lady Teazle . She does not render the character so frivolous and heartless as is commonly done , but , by her artistic bye-play ( the mark of true genius ) , shows that beneath the surface there is ready to gush forth the pure living water of affection . This was evident in the screen scene , the great success of the evening . Mr . Cyril Maude ably sustained the character of Sir Peter Teazle ; gave full effect to the well-known points , still we think his bearing was not so aristocratic as befitted the part . Joseph

Surface and his brother Charles were in the able hands of Messrs . Sydney Valentine and Paul Arthur ; Sir Oliver Surface , whose elocution was clear and distinct , by Mr . H . Kemble . Crabtree and Sir Benjamin Backbite did not satisfy us . Moses was fairly good , though exaggerated in the make-up . Miss Lottie Venne made the best of Mrs . Candour , for which she was not suited . We understand that at the commencement of the ensuing season the prosperous run of " The Schcol for Scandal " will be resumed .

Her Majesty's Theatre.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE .

During the long and prosperous run of Rip Van Winkle , we were unable to attend until Saturday , 21 st inst ., the last night of the season . The torrid heat vve now experience induced Mr . Tree to antedate the closure , which was originally announced for the 27 th inst . We could not fail recalling to our rememberance the previous representation in years gone by of Mr . Jefferson in the title role . It was a bold thing to vie

with that distinguished actor , but there was so much ori ginality in Mr . Tree ' s conception of the character , that we think he was perfectl y justified in the revival . In one point , however , there appears to be a discrepancy . As the drunken dissolute husband in the early part of the play , Rip is made too youthful in aspect to justify in the lapse of 20 years the senille decrepitude afterwards evinced . We should have expected that the hard

outdoor life hp spent would have left its evident traces on the furrowed visage , and that the conscience of the man at the occasional recollection of his wrecked estate would have been indelibly impressed on his visage . In a word , the change seems too violent from the youthful debonair appearance in the Iirst act to the infirm old age after the 2 J years awakening . With this exception , vve have nothing but unqualified praise to bestow on

Mr . Tree for his artistic conception of the character . The personal charm and grace of Miss Lily Hanbury , rendered it dillicalt for us to imagine that she was really the virago Washington Irving vvould have us believe , especially so , when the gleams of pathos which , from time to time , appear , show that , in spite of her provocation , she has a deeply seated love for her worthless husband . Meenie , as the little child , is prettily acted by Miss

Georgie Fryer , and later on tlie grown-up daughter was undertaken by Miss Ltttice Fairfax , with unaffectea iroJesty aad grace . Derrick Bickman ar . d his ily nephew , Ian , were well played by Messrs . Norman McKinnel and Fred Tideu . Nick Vedder , the landlord , was in the able hands of Mr . F . Percival Stevens . Hendrick Vedder , as the boy , was acted with truthful simplicity by Master Harold de Becker , whilst the

handsome manly bearing ol Mr . Gerald Lawrence , invested the character of the lover Hendrick , with great interest . The ravine in Kaatskill Mountains and Sleepy Hollow are both triumphs of scenic art . The play delighted an appreciative audience , and , at its conclusion , Mr . Tree , still in his picturesque costume , in taking his farewell for the season , shadowed forth what were his plans for the future .

General Notes.

GENERAL NOTES .

Mr . Newman ' s London Musical Festival has certainly been a success , and he intends to again make it a feature next year . Two things have been shown clearly by the festival which has ended , that if two orchestras are engaged it is better for them to play separately . They can thus edify and delight , while , when amalgamated , there is plenty of noise but indifferent artistic realisation . The other notable fact was that our own young school of composers has little to fear from French rivalry .