Reverberation, and Where Reflected Light Cannot Occur
Original vs. reflected light, and why shadowy woods and meadows cast no reflection
Continuing from the previous leaf, the page first notes how the reliefs of a face act as a shield, the eyebrows withholding light from the eye sockets, the nose from much of the mouth, and the chin from the throat. A short chapter then defines reverberation as light thrown back by clear, flat, half-dense bodies, rebounding onto the first object like the bounce of a ball. A further chapter distinguishes original light (from fire, sun, or air) from derivative or reflected light, and explains that shadowy bodies such as dark places, tall grass, and green or withered woods give no reflected light, because the many self-cast shadows of their branches sum to a darkness in which light counts for nothing.
On this page
The reliefs of the face shield the features
The projecting parts of the face act as a shield: the eyebrows take the light from the bony eye sockets, the nose withholds it from much of the mouth, and the chin from the throat.
Of reverberation
Reverberations are caused by bodies of clear quality and flat, half-dense surface which, when struck by the light, cast it back upon the first object, in the likeness of the bounce of a ball.
Original and derivative light; where no reflection occurs
Light is of two natures: original light derives from the blaze of fire, the sun, or the air, while derivative light is reflected. Shadowy bodies such as dark places, meadows of tall grass, and green or withered woods give no reflected light, for the many shadows cast by their branches sum to a darkness in which the light counts for nothing.