Every body fills the air with its likeness, as mirrors do
A treatise passage: the species of all bodies present at every point of the air
In this continuous passage Leonardo maintains that all bodies infuse and mingle their species and likeness throughout the whole air set opposite them, so that the image of every point of a surface is present at every point of the air, and the air's likeness at every point of the bodies. He concludes that each body's likeness is present, wholly and in part, reciprocally in the bodies opposite it, just as is seen in two mirrors set facing one another. Scholarly indexing shows the sheet also bears further, untranscribed matter on the ebb and flow of waters, waves in rivers, the deception of painters, and geometry of circle sectors. Only the optical passage is transcribed here.
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The species of all bodies fill every point of the air
All bodies infuse and mingle their species and likeness throughout the whole quantity of the air opposite them, so the species of each point of a surface is at each point of that air, and all the species of bodies are at each point of it.
Reciprocal likeness, as in facing mirrors
The likeness of each body is present, wholly and in part, in each part and in the whole of the bodies set opposite it, reciprocally, as is seen in mirrors placed one opposite the other. This reciprocity underlies how surfaces render one another's image.
Untranscribed notes on waters
Additional writing on the sheet is not included in this transcription. Scholarly indexing associates it with the ebb and flow of waters and with waves that break against the current of rivers.