116 



BULLETIISr 119, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



broad wooden mud guard is fitted over tlie rear wheel, supported 

 at one end b}^ vertical iron struts extending from the rear wheel, 

 and at the other to the diagonal rear-wheel fork. Secured to this 

 mud guard is the saddle. The machine is driven by wooden spool 

 pedals fitted to short cranks on the front wheel. 



Cat. No. 248,087 U.S.N.M. 



FIG. 58. " GRASSHOPPER " BICYCLE, 1880. 



" Grasshopper " Bicycle, 1880. Gift of Thomas M. Wilkins. 



This machine consists of a metal frame with a 22-inch wire wheel 

 in front and a 54-inch wire wheel in the rear. It was developed as 

 a result of the tendency of its predecessor, the " Ordinary " (hav- 

 ing the small wheel in the rear), to pitch the rider head first upon 

 striking an obstruction in the road. The front wheel is swung in a 

 fork whose branches join above the wheel and continue upward 

 Vv^ithin a metal tube to the handle bar. The rear wheel is secured by 

 a series of solid iron struts between this tube and its axles and to a 

 short strap-iron plate on which the saddle is placed. The machine 



