52 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



his little ones with phantom scenes of beauty, brought by the sunbeam 

 and the stereoscope from places that their eyes will never behold. 

 The writer will not be deemed blameworthy in transcribing, from a 

 letter that was not intended for the public, a few lines which the au- 

 thor has consented to let him give. Dr. Holmes says : " It appeared 

 to me that the box stereoscopes were cumbrous and awkward affairs. 

 I had one of Smith and Beck's, and one or more of other patterns, but 

 I did not like them ; and so one day I cut out a piece of wood in some 

 such shape as this (Fig. 10), the lines representing slots in which the 

 stereograph was to be placed, stuck an awl in for a handle, and there 

 was my stereoscope. ... I have forgotten to mention the hood, which 

 I made of pasteboard cut to fit. Other open instruments, and many 

 closed ones, have been made, but most of them have been awkward, 

 expensive, and sometimes gimcracky, whereas I think mine may be 

 called simple, strong, cheap, handy." 



No better compendium of good qualities can be expressed than is 

 comprised in this brief list of four words. The figure is taken directly 

 from " the original great-grandfather pattern," as the inventor has 

 pleasantly called it, the " real Adam " of hand-stereoscopes, that was 

 born or developed in 1861, delighted the human beings who lived 

 in that remote day, and has been sleeping these many years. Com- 

 pelled now to show itself, like Hip Van Winkle, it is perhaps a little 

 stiff ; and in style it is a trifle blunt, in comparison with its polished 

 and accommodating great-grandchildren of the present day (Fig. 11), 

 that fold up and pocket themselves out of sight ; but nevertheless its 

 character is that of a straightforward, clear-headed old ancestor, that 

 looks forth honestly from under that somber hood. 



To produce the illusion of viewing an actual sunlit scene, Dr. 

 Holmes placed between the stereograph and the semi-lenses an oblique 

 wooden plate, in which were a pair of elliptic openings, so that the 

 effect was that of looking through a circular window. The front was 

 covered with gilt paper from which a golden light was reflected upon 

 the picture. As an appropriate name he selected that of " The Claude 

 Lorraine Stereoscope." 



The inventor offered his device gratuitously to manufacturers in 

 New York and Philadelphia, but their refusal was as courteous as 

 was consistent with firm opposition. He did not assume the trouble 

 to secure it by patent, as he " did not care to make money by so ob- 

 vious and simple a contrivance." A few of these stereoscopes were at 

 last constructed by Mr. Joseph L. Bates, of Boston ; and the demand 

 rapidly grew so that now but few of any other make are to be found in 

 the United States. Improvements, indeed, have been added, but not 

 of such kind as to diminish the cost ; one of these, introduced by Mr. 

 Bates, was the substitution of a sliding cross-bar for the series of fixed 

 slots. The " Claude Lorraine " effect may be easily obtained with any 

 ordinary stereoscope, by the use of an extra cross-bar, on which the 



