Superior as the representations of the phantasmagoria are to those of the magic lantern, they are still liable to the defect which we have mentioned, namely, the necessary imperfection of the minute transparent figures when magnified. This defect cannot be remedied by employing the most skilful artists. Even Michael Angelo would have failed in executing a figure an inch long with transparent varnishes, when all its imperfections were to be magnified. In order, therefore, to perfect the art of representing phantasms, the objects must be living ones, and in place of chalky ill-drawn figures, mimicking humanity by the most absurd gesticulations, we shall have phantasms of the most perfect delineation, clothed in real drapery, and displaying all the movements of life. The apparatus by which such objects may be used, may be called the _catadioptrical phantasmagoria_, as it operates both by reflexion and refraction. [Illustration: _Fig. 7._] The combination of mirrors and lenses which seems best adapted for this purpose is shown in Fig. 7, where AB is a living figure placed before a large concave mirror MN, by means of which a diminished and inverted image of it is formed at _ab_. If PQ is the transparent screen upon which the image is to be shown to the spectators on the right hand of it, a large lens LL must be so placed before the image _ab_, as to form a distinct and erect picture of it at A´B´ upon the screen. When the image A´B´ is required to be the exact size of AB, the lens LL must magnify the small image _ab_ as much as the mirror MN diminishes the figure AB. The living object AB, the mirror MN, and the lens LL, must all be placed in a moveable car for the purpose of producing the variations in the size of the phantasms, and the transformations of one figure into another. The contrivance for adjusting the lens LL, to give a distinct picture at different distances of the screen, will, of course, be required in the present apparatus. In order to give full effect to the phantasms, the living objects at AB will require to be illuminated in the strongest manner, and should always be dressed either in white or in very luminous colours; and, in order to give them relief, a black cloth should be stretched at some distance behind them. Many interesting effects might also be produced by introducing at AB fine paintings and busts.