DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18826#0035
lect. i.] on perspective. 29
has been faid ; the only perfpectivity of which they
are capable, being a diminution as they recede from
the fpe£tator: but if we fuppofe any objects pour-
trayed upon them, thefe will preferve their regular
ftations; not only the perpendicular lines continue
perpendicular, but the horizontal lines continue
horizontal; and thus, a fquare, which in either of the
planes we have treated of would become oblong, (I
mean fhorter on two fides than on the other two); or
a circle, which would become elliptical, in a parallel
vertical plane retain their forms ;—a fquare though di-
minilhed continues to be a fquare, and a circle conti-
nues to be a circle.
Neither fhall we at prefent, regard planes oblique
to the horizontal, or to the vertical line, fmce fuch
are alfo ot a conftruction fimilar to thofe already de-
fcribed; and fince in our future progrefs they may be
attended to with advantage. Enough has been faid
tor the prefent;—I am not addreffing an auditory in
academical trencher-caps, bonnets, and bands, but (a
confiderable part of it at leaf!:) in gauze caps, bonnets,
and ribbons ; who, I conceive, engage in thefe ftudies
not inrenfely, though heartily; not as the bufinefs
of life, but as a moft agreeable relaxation, uniting
pleafure w^ith improvement; and, therefore, refer
the fubjects already treated to candid confideration.
For fimilar reafons I have avoided all mathematical
terms and expreffions, that I poffibly could, and have
endeavoured to familiarize the whole : if I have fuc-
ceeded according to my defire, we have fuffered little
lofs in the abfence of abftrufe terms, and hard names $
and have had little reafon to regret the pompous into-
vol. in. Edit. 7. e nations
has been faid ; the only perfpectivity of which they
are capable, being a diminution as they recede from
the fpe£tator: but if we fuppofe any objects pour-
trayed upon them, thefe will preferve their regular
ftations; not only the perpendicular lines continue
perpendicular, but the horizontal lines continue
horizontal; and thus, a fquare, which in either of the
planes we have treated of would become oblong, (I
mean fhorter on two fides than on the other two); or
a circle, which would become elliptical, in a parallel
vertical plane retain their forms ;—a fquare though di-
minilhed continues to be a fquare, and a circle conti-
nues to be a circle.
Neither fhall we at prefent, regard planes oblique
to the horizontal, or to the vertical line, fmce fuch
are alfo ot a conftruction fimilar to thofe already de-
fcribed; and fince in our future progrefs they may be
attended to with advantage. Enough has been faid
tor the prefent;—I am not addreffing an auditory in
academical trencher-caps, bonnets, and bands, but (a
confiderable part of it at leaf!:) in gauze caps, bonnets,
and ribbons ; who, I conceive, engage in thefe ftudies
not inrenfely, though heartily; not as the bufinefs
of life, but as a moft agreeable relaxation, uniting
pleafure w^ith improvement; and, therefore, refer
the fubjects already treated to candid confideration.
For fimilar reafons I have avoided all mathematical
terms and expreffions, that I poffibly could, and have
endeavoured to familiarize the whole : if I have fuc-
ceeded according to my defire, we have fuffered little
lofs in the abfence of abftrufe terms, and hard names $
and have had little reafon to regret the pompous into-
vol. in. Edit. 7. e nations