** A Miniature "Pepper's Ghost" Illusion [52]
Probably many readers have seen a "Pepper's Ghost" illusion at
some amusement place. As there shown, the audience is generally
seated in a dark room at the end of which there is a stage with
black hangings. One of the audience is invited onto the stage,
where he is placed in an upright open
[Illustration: Pepper's Ghost]
coffin. A white shroud is thrown over his body, and his clothes
and flesh gradually fade away till nothing but his skeleton
remains, which immediately begins to dance a horrible rattling
jig. The skeleton then fades away and the man is restored again.
A simple explanation is given in the Model Engineer. Between the
audience and the coffin is a sheet of transparent glass, inclined
at an angle so as to reflect objects located behind the scenes,
but so clear as to be invisible to the audience and the man in the
coffin. At the beginning the stage is lighted only from behind the
glass. Hence the coffin and its occupant are seen through the
glass very plainly. The lights in front of the glass (behind the
scenes) are now raised very gradually as those behind the glass
are turned down, until it is dark there.
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