The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-06 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALACE.

The special holiday attraction at the Crystal Pa-
lace—for as to pantomime it is no longer a novelty
there, but holds regular possession of the stage in
the transept every Christmas—is the " zoetrope,"
or " wheel of life." This optical toy is everywhere

ya. •• ,••••••••• _
fashionable just now. The London Stereoscopic
Company cannot keep pace with the demand which
has sprung up within a few weeks ; and piratical
traders hawk about the city streets a curiously im-
practicable supply of materials, together with a
book of instructions, for making the instrument
at home. The zoetrope belongs to a class
of simple inventions which exemplify the fact
that the reflections of images linger for a
moment or two upon the retina when the
images themselves have passed from the orbit
of sight. That delightful humourist and true
philosopher, the " Autocrat of the Breakfast-
table," has commended the zoetrope on the ground
of its utility in thus illustrating and enforcing a
scientific truth ; but it should be noted that the
practical demonstration of this truth is not entirely

due to the particular form cf apparatus now so
popular. In the boyhood of mon who are grey,
there were toys the principle of which was the

same ; and in the gallery of the Polytechnic Insti-
tution something resembling the " wheel of life,"
something at the same time as old as the diving
bell and the electric batteries may yet be seen.

A. simpler application of the principle that
objects don't disappear the instant they aro
" out of sight" used to be made by schoolboys
in the manner following :—On one side of a circular
piece of cardboard, a little to the right
of the centre, would be pictured, say a timid little
mouse ; and on the other side, to the left of the
centre, there would be the counterfeit of a fero-
cious tabby. By attaching two small pieces of silk
to the cardboard disc, at opposite ends of a sup-
posed equator, a spinning motion may easily be
attained ; and, as the pictures on the two sides are
twirled rapidly round, they appear to be one. The
subjects may, of course, be endlessly varied, care
only being taken that either half of the complete
group shall be so placed on the card that it will
come properly into relationship with its fellow.
A. stream of water, with a boat or a swan float-
ing on it, will, for examp!e, • serve as the com-
plementary obverse to a bridge ; a wig to a hair-
less mask ; a circus-rider to a bare-backed
sted ; a bird to a birdcage ; a railway train to
a viaduct ; a pair of horses to a carriage ;
a swordsman to his. opponent with pike or
bayonet ; and so on, without limit to the combina-
tions. But the. instrument known_ as the " zoe-
trope," or " wheel of life," is an improvement on
everything of the kind that has preceded it ; and
there is a remarkable and specific difference between
it and the contrivance we have just described. In
the one instance, a fixed and motionless picture was
attained by bringing its two separate halves into
seeming conjunction ; but in the case of the zoetropo
the pictures appar to be animated. A grotesque
face rolls its goggle-eyes and silently gnashes its two
great rows of teeth ; or an acrobat vaults and
turns somersaults through hoops ; or a little gen-
tleman trots nimbly along with raised umbrella be-
neath a never-ending, still-beginning shower of
pitch-forks ;or a spider-like personage, lying on
his back, jerks with his feet a huge ball to another
spider-like personage, who, catching it on the soles
of his feet, passes it on, along a spider-like and in-
verted row. At the Crystal Palace, the instrument
which the London Stereoscopic Company
has brought into fashion is shown on a magnified
;tale. It is, in all respects but size, the same
" wheel of life" that you may place in the middle of
your drawing-rOom table, and set aspinning for
the diversion of the youngsters ; but, instead of its
being turned by the light touch of a hand, it is kept
in motion by a Hugon gas-engine. The ordinary
diameter of a zoetrope is about 12 inches ; and the
big .brother of the popular toy measures 16 feet
across. The little figures become, in proportion to
the general scale, pretty large figures ; and the
effect is very striking for a time ; but after one
or two changes of scene the eye begins to miss
the strangeness of magnitude; and it is but fair to
say that the instrument, in its original and do-
mestically convenient size, answers all the pur-
poses of amusement. As manufactured and sold
by the Stereoscopic Company, it is one of the
most fertile sources of entertainment ever devised ;
for, properly lighted, it may be seen by a whole
room-full of company without crowding or any kind
of trouble. For the giant zoetrope, in the concert-
room of the Crystal Palace, a spacious gallery of
seats, capable of accommodating 400 spectators, has
been erected. The exhibition is accompanie Iby
music and by an explanatory lecture.
The programme of Christmas amsements is con-
tinued from day to day with increased success. The
Arabs pile themselves into pyramids and walls, and
the pantomime of " Little Red Riding Hood," well
supported as it is by the talent of nimble grotesques,
retains some of the grace and simplicity of its ori-
ginal nursery per'fw, its merit in this respect being
due to the charming quaintness of Miss Alice Dodd,
who personifies the heroine, and who brings to her
task a bright good-humoured intelligence that
might win, as comedy, the praise, which is seldom
deserved by burlesque. TO the indoor pleasures
of the Crystal Palace, Jack FA.ost, who has of
late been defied by the ingenious inventor of
wheel-skates, obligingly offered the counter attrac-
tion of a fine, smooth floor of ice in the lower
grounds ; and skating Without wheels was prac-
tised on Saturday by a company at once numerous
and select. The fact that payment or the presen-
tation of a season ticket is needful to gain access to
the frozen lake in the Crystal Palace pleasure
grounds has of course considerable influence on the
general character of the assembly, which is not so
miscellaneous as in the parks and other places of
open resort. Ladies are less diffident in venturing
among the devotees of a health ing pastime ;
and of the prominently noticeable skaters on Satur-
day several were of the gentler sex. Throughout
the day the mercury column in the open air was
below freezing point; while the interior of the
Palace was kept, by means of 40 miles of hot water
pipes under the flooring, at a pleasant temperature
of 45 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The entrances
during the day were 4,506, admisAan by season
tickets being 3,533, and by half-drown pay manta
1,013.