CHAP. II.] GLENLAIR CHILDHOOD. 37 



transverse axis, before a mirror, at which the eye 

 looked through apertures cut at equal distances near 

 the rim of the disc. And the figures drawn upon it 

 were so contrived, by being placed in carefully 

 graduated positions, as thus to produce the impression 

 of a continuous movement. 1 This was a source of 

 endless amusement to the two cousins, the younger 

 generally contriving, and in part executing, the elder 

 giving life and spirit to the creatures represented. 

 Through Mrs. Maxwell's kindness, I have in my pos- 

 session some of these early works, in which the 

 ingenuity of the contriver is everywhere manifest, 

 the hand of the artist only here and there. The cow 

 jumping over the waxing and waning moon, the dog 

 pursuing the rat in and out of his hole, the circus 

 horse, on which the man is jumping through the hoop, 

 have the firmness and truth of touch, the fulness of 

 life, familiar to the many admirers of J. B. The 

 tumbler under the horse's feet ; the face in which the 

 pink and white, drawn separately, are made to blend ; 

 the tadpole that wriggles from the egg and changes 

 gradually into a swimming frog ; the cog-wheels moved 

 by the pendulum, and acting with the precision of 

 clockwork (showing, in fact, the working of an escape- 

 ment) ; these display, with less power of execution, 

 the quaint fancy and observation, and the constructive 



1 This was afterwards developed into the " zoetrope " or " wheel 

 of life," how far through suggestions of Clerk Maxwell's, or otherwise, 

 I am unable to say. The lenses which perfect the illusion were 

 certainly added by Maxwell himself. See Problem xx. of Cambridge 

 Tripos Examination, 1869, Thursday, January 7. 



