| 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 |
| 1 | 306 | 613 | 919 | 1225 |
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[Footnote: 51. In this problem the eye is conceived of as fixed and
immovable; this is plain from line 11.]
Experimental proof of the existence of the pyramid of sight (52-55).
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2.
Perspective is a rational demonstration, confirmed by experience,
that all objects transmit their image to the eye by a pyramid of
lines.
By a pyramid of lines I understand those lines which start from the
edges of the surface of bodies, and converging from a distance, meet
in a single point; and this point, in the present instance, I will
show to be situated in the eye which is the universal judge of all
objects. By a point I mean that which cannot be divided into parts;
therefore this point, which is situated in the eye, being
indivisible, no body is seen by the eye, that is not larger than
this point. This being the case it is inevitable that the lines
which come from the object to the point must form a pyramid. And if
any man seeks to prove that the sense of sight does not reside in
this point, but rather in the black spot which is visible in the
middle of the pupil, I might reply to him that a small object could
never diminish at any distance, as it might be a grain of millet or
of oats or of some similar thing, and that object, if it were larger
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