Stranica 78 [78]
44 LIGHT AND WATER
We have seen how a point is elongated into a ver¬
tical streak, a lamp reflected in gently moving water
appearing as an upright line of light; and so it is
that in these drawn-out reflexions in rippled water
the perpendicular lines of the object are retained
whilst its horizontal lines disappear. In the reflexion
of a house having rows of windows evenly arranged
one above another, it will be noticed that it is often
impossible to distinguish the windows of the different
floors, they having become merged together into
vertical lines extending from the top to the bottom
of the house, as can be seen in Plate VI. Again, in
the reflexion of a railing in rippled water the upright
posts may be perfectly distinct, though the rails con¬
necting them have entirely disappeared, and, in the
same way, the piers of a bridge will remain long after
its arches have vanished.
In a stretch of water of any size there is almost
always enough motion to destroy the horizontal lines
of the image, so that, in drawing reflexions, this most
characteristic feature must not be forgotten. Thever¬
tical edge of awhite cottage wall is sharply defined, but
the horizontal lines of its red-tiled roof have escaped
us, and in the water white dissolves into red and red
fades away into the green of the wood behind. (See
Plate V, page 30.) The trunks of the trees and the
masts of boats stand out prominently, whilst other
parts of the reflexion picture are blurred and in¬
distinct or vanish altogether (Plate XII); the very
upright and straight stems being more distinct even
than those that slope only a little. A beautiful ex¬
ample of this effect may be seen in the reflexion ofa