RECREATIVE SCIENCE. 



circumvolutions of a make round the body of the enraged orator, but 

 o.t>rao0* of little BOM, who throw her arms around the neck 

 (.f tli- \ i. ,r with Hiich supplicating grace that at length he exclaimed, 

 ' \\Yil. w.-ll ; if it bo the decree of the Fate* I miut submit." 



l>umiH' UIIH ult. reuUuu, Mr. Seymour bad procured the "wooden 

 engine " from hit study. 



' 1 will flrttt," aoid he, "exhibit the toy in its original state, and 

 then show you the improvements which have been effected m it." 



" Let us hear the account of its 

 operation," said the Major, "which I 

 perceive is enclosed within the box." 



"True," replied Mr. Seymour j 

 "and I think you will airroe that I 

 have (riven a very plausible expla- 

 nation of its effects." 



" Plausible," muttered the Vicar 

 " plausible enough, no doubt ; 

 oh, the Sinon 1 " (Illusive ia the 

 synonym of platutblt.) 



Mr. Seymour then proceeded : 

 " This toy is termed the Thauma- 

 trope." 



" Of Grecian origin ! " observed 

 the Vicar. " 'Timeo JMnaos et dona 

 ftrentet,' as Virgil has it." 



" What is the meaning of the 

 term ? " asked Louisa. 



The Vicar explained to her that 

 it was compounded of the Greek 

 words OaDfia and rptww, the former 

 of which signified tcondr, aud the 

 Litter to turn. 



" Exactly," replied Mr. Seymour, 

 " a wonder-turner, or a toy which 

 performs wonders by turning round. 

 But let me proceed in the ex- 

 planation." He then continued to read as follows : "This philosophic 

 toy is founded upon the well-known optical principle that an impres- 

 sion made on the retina of the eye lasts for a short interval after the 

 object which produced it has been withdrawn. During the rapid 

 twirling of the cord, the figures on each side are presented with such 

 quick transition that they both appear at the same instant, and thus 

 occasion a very striking and magical effect. On each of these cards a 

 device is introduced, with an ap- 

 propriate motto or epigram, the 

 point of which is announced or 

 explained by the change which 

 the figure assumes during the 

 rapid whirling of the cerd." 



" It may be very clever," said 

 the Vicar, " but I do not under- 

 stand it." 



" But you shortly will. Look 

 at one end of the cord." Mr. 

 Seymour then displayed a paste- 

 board circle, on one side of which 

 was figured a rat, and on the other 

 a cage. Two strings were fastened 

 in its axis, by which the card could 

 easily be made to revolve by means 

 of the thumb and finger. 

 No sooner had Mr. Seymour put 

 the card in motion than the Vicar, 

 in the tone of the greatest sur- 

 prise, exclaimed, " Magic ! magic ! 

 I declare the rat is in the cage ! " 



Dr. Paris' s description of his 

 toy ard the effect obtained will 

 be endorsed by all those who 

 have tried the experiment, and 

 it is usually found that plain 

 black objects on a white ground 

 show better than any coloured 

 devices. 



The original thaumatrope was subsequently modified and 

 improved by the inventor, so that not only were two figures 

 made apparent as if painted on one side of the caid, but motion 

 was seemingly imparted to them. 



The improvements consisted in attaching two strings, one 

 being elastic, in one or both sides of the circular cardboard, 

 which, being united at a distance of an inch or two from 

 the latter, would afford when twirled and pulled a variety of 

 motions iu consequence of the axis upon which the card turns 

 being constantly changed. Thus, a card with a jockey on one 

 Bide and a horse on the other, on spinning round, presented the 



Fig. 5. 



combined figure; on tightening the elastic tiring in the manner 

 described, the card changed its axis without the slightest halt 

 or hesitation in its rotation, and the rider wa* in an instant 

 I canted orer the head of hi* charger ; in a moment, howerer , 

 he appeared remounted; after which, by palling the elastic 

 string with different degree* of force, be WM mad* to stand on 

 the saddle, and to exhibit a number of different movement*. 



The Her. Richard Pilkington 

 registered some year* ago a very 

 excellent and simple modifica- 

 tion of the thaumatrope, which 

 he called the Pedemotcope, from 

 the Greek vrj&nna, (pe-de'-ma), a 

 gyring or bound, and ffxortui 

 (ukop'-e-o), I view, which is 

 capable of seven distinct appli- 

 cations of figures and device* 

 viz., engraved, embossed, re- 

 lievo, stamped out or stencil, 

 duplicate, swinging, and trans- 

 parent devices. The stencil or 

 transparent figures may be used 

 in the magic lantern, and are so 

 constructed as to change their 

 position apparently on being 

 reversed, and by a semi-rotation 

 only apparent movements are 

 obtained. 



The little toy consists of a 

 piece of mahogany, like half a 

 hair-brush (A B, Fig. 3), in which 

 two hollow spaces, c, c", are 

 cut out, and between them a holo is bored to take the brass pin, 

 p, carrying the upper slip of mahogany, D D, grooved to receive 

 the various pictures ; and in order to prevent D D from turning 

 quite round, a bit of iron is inserted, as seen in the hollow 

 c". In this design the card has the same picture painted in 

 two different positions (Figs. 3 and 4) on both sides, and when 



the brass pin, B, is twirled 

 with one hand, the handle, A, 

 being held in the other, the 

 motions of the cobbler, as 

 shown in Figs. 3 and 4, are 

 very distinctly seen. 



In the cut-out or stencil 

 designs, the pedemascopic or 

 springing motion is very well 

 shown, the two boys delineated 

 in Fig. 5 appearing to jump 

 up and down and across the 

 cut-out or open circular aper- 

 ture with great precision when 

 the brass pin is twirled half 

 round. 



Besides the contrivances that 

 have been described and illus- 

 trated in this page, there are 

 numerous other optical toys 

 B that owe the pleasing illu- 

 sions they convey to the optio 

 nerve to the principle of per- 

 sistence of vision, or the reten- 

 tion of the image of the object 

 on the retina after the object 

 itself has passed beyond or out 

 of the field of vision. The 

 Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, is 

 one of the toys that can be explained upon this principle. 

 Its construction may be thus briefly described. A long strip 

 of paper, on which an object is represented in different posi- 

 tions, is placed within a cylinder having long narrow slit* 

 at intervals in the upper part of it. The cylinder is made to 

 rotate rapidly, and the eye of the beholder is directed to 

 the interior through the slits. As the cylinder revolves, each 

 variation of the figure is imprinted on the retina in turn, and 

 in this way an impression is produced on the mind of the 

 spectator that all the figures in the cylinder are in active and 

 rapid motion. 



Fig. 3. 



II 



