29S 



NATURE 



[May 22, 1913 



From repeated encounters with African big 

 game of all kinds, Mr. Sutherland concludes that 

 the pursuit of the elephant is beyond doubt the 

 most dangerous. Next come buffaloes and lions, 

 which are about on a par ; but it will surprise 

 many of his readers to learn that the risk in shoot- 

 ing rhinoceroses is very small, smaller indeed than 

 that attending the shooting of leopards. The 

 volume is not, however, devoted wholly to sport. 

 It contains much valuable information about 

 the superstitions and social organisation of the 

 natives, as well as harrowing descriptions of inter- 

 tribal raids, throwing a lurid light on the life of 

 uncivilised man. 



films had been exhibited there was a short interval, 

 and then the curtain drew up, showing the stage 

 set as an ancient temple, with two rows of columns 

 and a background. This was all decorated in 

 quiet colours such as brown and terracotta, and 

 was only feebly lighted. Two attendants brought 

 on a pair of tables, set them between the back 

 pair of pillars and retired. Then two somewhat 

 ghostly pierrots, dressed in white, appeared to 

 come on the stage, and to play a xylophone duet 

 on instruments on the tables. A gramophone 

 produced the music and kept time with the move- 

 ment of the players. 



The optical effect appears to be produced by a 



(4) " Baby Birds at Home " is a book for 

 children. It is written in suitable style, but its 

 chief merit is perhaps the excellence of the photo- 

 graphs with which it is illustrated. R. I. P. 



THE PRODUCTION OF APPARENT RELIEF 

 BY "KINOPLASTIKON." 



AT the Scala Theatre — the home of " Kinema- 

 color " — there is now being exhibited a new 

 feature, termed " Kinoplastikon," which is adver- 

 tised as " singing, talking, moving, picture figures 

 without a screen," and has been described 

 in notices in the daily Press as stereoscopic. We 

 visited the theatre recently in order to see this 

 display and discover, if possible, how the stereo- 

 scopic effect was produced. We hoped to see 

 some new optical principle illustrated, but in this 

 we were disappointed. 



After a number of the now well-known colour 



NO. 2273, VOL. 91] 



variation of the old "Pepper's Ghost." A huge 

 sheet of plate-glass — it must be 20 to 30 ft. square 

 — seems to be set up in a vertical plane, making 

 an angle of 45 with the front of the stage, so that 

 any brightly lighted object on the left of the stage, 

 as seen from the auditorium, may be seen by the 

 audience by reflection as if it were upon the stage 

 itself. A diagram will make the arrangement 

 clearer. MN is the front of the stage, AB the 

 background. CD, EF, GH, the pillars of the 

 temple. GL is the sheet of glass. Then a bright 

 object at PQ will be seen by the audience at XYZ 

 as though it were at P'Q'. 



The figures are apparently projected by an 

 animatograph O upon a semi-transparent 

 screen at PQ. 1 Stray light from the lantern 

 coming through the screen could be seen shining 



1 In older to avoid the great length from O to the centre of the stage, it is 

 probable that the lantern is placed to shine down from above, or up from 

 below, or even forwards-from O . a silvered mirror reflecting tlie light into the 

 required direction. 



