RECREA T I V I : SCIENCE. 



with the surface of the Blotted or perforated (lino. It mnst 

 necessarily occur that in the course of movements the interceptor 

 allows w"m.-tiin."< one group <!' i>;uutd faces, and sometimes 

 another, to t> seen ; tnit Hhifting its position at varying and un- 

 certain intervals of time, it produces an effect which gives the 

 ,.r tho idoii that the lady is truly " automatic," and can 

 do as the pleases. 



'I'ii.' interceptor is shown at Fig. 3, with the face in front of it, 

 nii'l the curtains should always be ar- 

 -"d so as to hide the automatic lady 

 1 the shaft B (Fig. 1) is in motion, 

 :n u I all light, except that passing through 

 the slots from the ozy-hydrogen lantern, 

 carefully excluded. Of course other figures 

 may be used, but there are none bettor 

 than the one suggested, because refinement 

 should be a matter of course with tho fair 

 sex ; and it seems to be such a libel on a [ g 



y face to convict it of a want of good 

 breeding, and to verify part of Doctor 

 Johnson's epitaph for Hogarth 



" Tlio attentive eyes, 

 That saw tht manner in the face." 



The spectator will see the tongue some- 

 times thrust out, and the eyes wildly rolling 

 for a dozen times in succession ; then per- 

 haps the eyes suddenly close or open, and the mouth gapes wide 

 open ; and then, in the middle of an elegant yawn, tho mouth is 

 suddenly closed, and the tongue protruded, because the inter- 

 ceptor changes its position by variations in the friction of tho 

 perforated wheel, and always at uncertain and varying intervals. 

 To recapitulate, Fig. 1 shows the whole apparatus in section ; 

 Fig. 3, tho back of the slotted disc and the interceptor, the 

 lantern being removed to allow the latter to be well shown. 

 The lantern throws the light through the slots to the face, 

 which is concealed by the curtains until the movements are 

 commenced and the room darkened. 

 Fig. 2 is the cardboard disc, upon 

 which the sixteen faces are painted 

 in groups, as already described ; and 

 this works behind the screen upon 

 which the hat, curls, neck, shoulders, 

 etc., of the "automatic lady" are 

 depicted. 



By artificial means the semblance 

 of nature is given to a picture of 

 the human face ; but even here it 

 cannot be said that the idea is new, 

 because Nature herself appears to 

 simulate motions, some of which at- 

 tracted the attention of Faraday, 

 and formed part of the subject of a 

 very interesting paper written by 

 him in the Journal of the Royal 

 Institution, vol. i., p. 220. The 

 paper refers to the curious appear- 

 ance exhibited by the " Wheel Ani- 

 malcule." 



This little insect has been well 

 described by Mr. Baker and others, 

 and can only be viewed distinctly 

 under a high magnifying power ; it 

 then presents an elongated, sack-like 

 form, either attached by the poste- 

 rior part to the side of the vessel 



containing the water in which it exists, or else floating in the fluid. 

 When the effect in question is observable, there is seen the ap- 

 pearance of two wheels, one on each side of the head ; they seem 

 formed of deep teeth or short radii, perhaps fourteen or fifteen 

 in number. The form of these teeth is not sharp or well 

 defined, but hazy at the edges ; the interval between them is 

 perhaps rather more than the width of the teeth. The teeth 

 are not distinctly set on to a nave or axis, but appear some- 

 times even to melt away, or attenuate, at the part towards the 

 centre, and sometimes appear as independent portions, i.e., as 

 much separated from the centre part, or supposed place of 

 attachment, as from the neighbouring teeth. 



Those part* are never teen M wheel*, except in motion ; the 

 animal w sometimes noon without them, the port* which produce 

 the appearance being then either retracted and drawn inward*, 

 or disposed in other forms, for the animal is of a very change- 

 able nature. Tho motion of the wheels is continuous, M if they 

 were spinning constantly in one direction upon their axis ; the 

 velocity is such as to carry the teeth rapidly before the eye, hot 

 is not enough to confound the impression of one tooth with that 

 of its neighbour, and therefore they may 

 be distinctly seen. 



In this and a former lesson the toy called 

 the Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, has been 

 mentioned, and, as it is a simple contriv- 

 ance, and easy of construction, we may M 

 well give a detailed description of it her*, 

 so that any of our readers who are mechani- 

 cally inclined may be able to make one for 

 themselves. 



First it is necessary to procure a circu- 

 lar disc of wood, ten inches in diameter 

 and half an inch or rather more in thick- 

 ness. This disc should be made to revolve 

 freely on an iron pin put into a handle 

 like the handle of a skipping-rope or brad- 

 awl, which must have a disc of wood about 

 three inches in diameter at the top, on 

 which the larger disc may rest, and which 

 will prevent it from having an oscillating motion from side to 

 side when it is turned rapidly round. The larger disc should 

 bo prevented from slipping off the pin on which it revolves 

 by means of a small nut. A long screw passed through the 

 larger disc into tho handle will do as well as the iron pin and 

 nut. 



Next take a strip of pasteboard thirty-three inches in length 

 and seven in breadth. This will be enough to go round the 

 disc and leave one and a half inches for lapping over and join- 

 ing up the pasteboard into a cylindrical form, which may be 

 effected by a few stitches, or by 

 means of brass rivets similar to 

 those generally used by shoemakers 

 and staymakers. Having done this, 

 divide the pasteboard into two 

 equal parts by a line drawn along 

 its length, and in the upper part 

 cut eleven or thirteen vertical slits, 

 two and three-quarters inches long 

 and three-sixteenths of an inch 

 broad, at equal distances from one 

 another, the bottom of each slit 

 touching the line drawn across the 

 pasteboard. Care must be taken to 

 cut the slits in such a manner that 

 there may be the same distance be- 

 tween the slits at each end when 

 the cylinder is joined up as there 

 is between any two of the slits ; and 

 before cutting them out it will be 

 as well to paste white paper on the 

 side of the pasteboard intended for 

 the inside of the cylinder and black 

 paper on the outside. The slits 

 should then be cut out with a sharp 

 penknife. When the cylinder has 

 been joined up so as to fit exactly 

 round the disc, it may be fastened 

 to it by means of a few iron tacks, 

 taking care that the perforated part remains uppermost. 



Strips of paper, three inches wide and long enough to fit 

 round the interior of the cylinder and lap over a little, should 

 now be taken, and figures, similar in form and colour, but in 

 different attitudes, drawn on them. The figures should be 

 equal in number to the slits in the cylinder, and so drawn that 

 when the strip is placed within it a figure may appear exactly 

 under each slit. When the above directions have been 

 attended to, and the cylinder is caused to revolve by tho 

 hand, the eye being at the same time directed to the interior 

 through tho slits, the figures will appear to be endowed with 

 motion. 



