Abstract
REFERRING to the article in NATURE for October 20, may I mention a rather common optical illusion which I do not remember to have yet seen in print. If a gothic arch is unequally divided by a space between two vertical parallel lines, these lines will not only seem to diverge slightly where they intersect the lines of the arch, but the arch itself is caused to appear as if one half had slipped bodily down from the other to an extent equal to its own thickness. In the figure given above it is impossible to believe that but for the intervention of the vertical interlinear space the two halves would be seen to meet perfectly with the apex at A. This illusion is worth the notice of architects who desire to avoid the disquieting effect upon the eyes of observant persons which is produced by the intersection of the chancel arch of a church by an intervening pillar.
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LEWIS, R. Optical Illusions. Nature 47, 31 (1892). https://doi.org/10.1038/047031a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/047031a0
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