The San Francisco call., 1896-02-09

equilibrium upon its vertical axis through
the rotary motion that is given it, and
have thus had to exclude several very
curious playthings, and especially the ''air
turbine" and the magic box" as well as
various others in which the object set in
revolution is not top, properly so called,
but t1ywheel whose axis is held by sup
ports.
have divided my tops into two great
classes:
/. Those which revolve, az 1 may say,
simply in order to revolve or, in other
words those in which one has had in view
merely the rotary motion and the momen-
tary equilibrium resulting therefrom. |
have divided them into different categories
according to the way in which the rotary
motion is given them.
Il. Those in which the rotary motion is
applied in order to produce another effect
optical, acoustic, mechanical or otherwise.
In the case OF simple tops, / place the fol-
lowing:
l. Tops set in motion by hand. This
category comprises the teetotums l have,
IN the fret place, the ordinary teetotum.
set in revolution through the upper part OF
the axis. That of Fig. has the pre.en-
sion, think, to represent dancing dervish
with arms swinging. The ttop" teetotum
Gig. p differs from the preceding, in that
the fingers grasp it by the point. The
domino or Idle" teetotum Zig. 81 NAV
be used for different plays. The ''centrifu-
gaf' teetotum Gig. 4) and the "cyclone''
teetotum end the list of these forms of the
top.
2. Whiptops-I know of but two char
acteristic types of these-the common one
(Fig.6), whose conical form is one of the
Oldest known, and the mushroom
Gig. y.
8. Pegtops-These are the tops of col
lections, the short point" top Gig. 81, the
long point" top Gig. 81, and the ''flat'
top Gig. l0). Fig. IL shows variant of
Fig. s. The cord, instead of being free.
remains fixed to the top, while at the same
time allowing it TO spin.
These varieties do not differ in form
only, but are thrown differently. The
short point top is held in the hand. the
point downward and the forefnger resting
upon the stem, and is thrown by a down.
ward motion of the ARM the long point
top is held inverted. the point in the air,
and in throwing it the arm describes a
semicircle from back to front, like the
hammer OF the blacksmith. The fiat top
is held with the arm lowered and is thrown
with horizontal motion, analogous to
that OF the ricochet, in drawing the cord
toward the body.
4. Humming Tops-In this category the
retary motion is given by the cord, drawn
1dpluly Will Que 0duQ, WDlle the TOD Is
held in place. The Clutch" top is held
in a handle provided with an aperture,
with which either engages the upper part
OF the prolonged axis Gig. 13) or its point
Zig. la, and from which 1t is disengaged
after it has been set In action by the cord.
a top OF an analogous system Gig. 15)
but OF metal and provided with movable
cover, is sold as sugar-plum box.
In other systems the bearing point is
taken upon the top itself, or else the top
around which the cord is wound and its
axis are interdependent. The "Eiffel
tower top Gig. 16) belongs to the first
type. The penny top of the shops Zig.
17) and many other analogous ores have
axis independent. To this second type be-
longs also the acrobat" top Gig. 1S).
In the "Protean" top Zig. 19) the
glass cone that forms the top is held at
the moment at which the cord is drawn
by movable axis independent of it.
Finally, in the ''gyroscope" top Gig.
20) the rotary motion is given to the
interior fywheel in holding the external
ring in hand.
s. Tops of Various Systems-The top
having to-and-fro motion Zig. 21) Is
very ingenious. With one hand is held
the small frame beneath, in which the
axis turns freely, and with the other the
cord whose extremity is fixed to the axis,
and alternating rotary motions are then
given the top. After the top has been set
spinning 1t is left to itself, when the cord