During the period which followed the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, there appeared, first in London and later in Paris and elsewhere, a small cardboard toy which was at once the plaything of children and a scientific curiosity which illustrated in a startling way the illusion of the persistence of vision. This toy was the Thaumatrope.

The name Thaumatrope means “wonder-turner” (a word reminiscent of one of Kircher’s titles for the magic shadow projection art—thaumaturga). The Thaumatrope is a small disk with one image on the face and another on the back. Two short threads or bits of string are attached to the disk. The Thaumatrope’s effects are observed by twirling the disk. The eye, as in the case of motion pictures, does not distinguish the separate pictures on each side of the disk but only the one, combined impression.

A variation of the Thaumatrope, however, came even closer to the motion picture idea—the two ends of cord were not set opposite each other, which resulted in an irregular motion and an additional illusion.

John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856), an English doctor, has the best claim to the invention of the Thaumatrope. At any rate, he was responsible for the popularity of this scientific toy. Paris was a skilled physician who was specially known for his talent in judging the health of his patients by their general appearance. He took interest in affairs well outside his medical profession and was respected as a conversationalist whose talk enlivened many a drawing room evening in London. A keen mind and a great memory, even for the smallest detail, were qualities that helped to make Paris a charming companion.

For recreation Paris wrote a “novel” called, Philosophy in Sport Made Science in Earnest; being an attempt to illustrate the first principles of natural philosophy by aid of Popular Toys and Sports. The work was published in three small volumes, in keeping with the 19th century custom that every novel must be issued in three volumes. Paris used a thread of story as a frame-work on which to build the various scientific illustrations. The book Philosophy in Sport, shows the influence of the novelist-humorist Thomas Love Peacock. It was dedicated to the novelist, Maria Edgeworth.

Paris’ work was published anonymously in 1827 and was a “best seller” all through the rest of his life. On his death-bed in 1856 he was busy revising the proofs of the 8th edition.

The first part of the third volume dealt with the Thaumatrope which Paris informed his readers could be obtained “at Mr. William Phillip’s, George Yard, Lombard Street, the publisher.” Paris continued, “We mention this circumstance to guard the reader against those inferior imitations which are vended in the shops of London.” George Cruikshank, 1792–1878, the skilled illustrator, who worked on books of Scott and Dickens, made some of the designs for Paris’ Thaumatrope.

Paris introduced the Thaumatrope amid a great number of puns which perhaps were very funny in his day.

One epigram, accompanying a Thaumatrope card, had a reference to the recent activities of Napoleon:

Paris, as inventor of the Thaumatrope, could not avoid the temptation to have a little speech from the anonymous inventor, himself: “The inventor confidently anticipates the favour and patronage of an enlightened and liberal public, on the well-grounded assurance that ‘one good turn deserves another’; and he trusts that his discovery may afford the happy means of giving activity to wit that has been long stationary; of revolutionizing the present system of standing jokes, and of putting into rapid circulation the most appreciated bon mots.”

The Thaumatrope was advertised in the following way:

The Thaumatrope
being
Rounds of Amusement
or
How to Please and Surprise
by turns.

Through the characters of his “novel,” Paris then commented on the illusion of the persistence of vision which makes the Thaumatrope (and the motion picture) a reality. He discussed the whirling flame which appeared to make a circle; Homer’s reference to “long shadowed” spear; and the tail of a rocket.

Paris also described an improved model of the Thaumatrope. In this card device a center disk is allowed to change from one position to another as the whole revolves. In one illustration a jockey was on one side and a horse on the other. By tightening the strings as the card revolved the jockey appeared to be falling over the neck of the horse. In another an Indian juggler was represented as using two, then three and finally four balls. Other illusions indicated were a sailor rowing a boat, “a dandy making a bow.” Through the words of the vicar, Paris then warned, “I hope that, amidst all your improvements (in the Thaumatrope), you will still keep in view your first and most laudable design, that of rendering it subservient to classical illustration.”

It is certain that Paris developed the Thaumatrope, first, for scientific illustration of the persistence of vision, perhaps to better explain the phenomenon to one of his patients or students. But being a clever man, he immediately realized its commercial value and arranged to have sets of the cards made up and sold in London. Doubtless the chapter in his book on the Thaumatrope did much to increase the sale of the toys.

David Brewster (1781–1868), Scottish scientist whose work on the polarization of light led him to invent, around 1815, the Kaleidoscope—an optical instrument which creates and exhibits by reflection a variety of beautiful symmetrical designs in varied colors—was the first to comment in print on the Thaumatrope of Paris, the year before the latter’s book appeared. In the fourth volume of his Edinburgh Journal Brewster wrote, under the description of the Thaumatrope, “a very ingenious philosophical toy, invented, we believe, by Dr. Paris.” Brewster remarked that the circular disks should be 2½ inches in diameter and that the cord should be of silk. Brewster described the following Thaumatrope cards: Rose-tree and garden-pot, horse and man, a branch with and without leaves, woman in one dress and then another, body of a Turk and his head, watchman’s box and the watchman, Harlequin and Columbine, comic head and wig, a man asleep and awake, and the use of the cards for cipher writing. According to Brewster, “the principle of the thaumatrope may be extended to many other devices.” He also commented on the imperfections of the toy arising from the hobbling effect of irregular rotation. He suggested that a “solid axis of rotation is decidedly preferable and will produce much more pleasing combinations.”

Brewster himself was deeply interested in light and vision phenomena. Despite its original scientific purposes, his Kaleidoscope also was a popular toy. Brewster patented the toy in 1816 but it was pirated. Some 200,000 were sold in three months. In his Treatise on the Kaleidoscope, 1819, Brewster told it was discovered while he was testing the successive reflections of gold and silver plates. He also noted the application of the Kaleidoscope to Kircher’s magic lantern in order to bring the effects before a large audience at one time.

The invention of the Thaumatrope has been attributed to others besides Paris, despite the weighty authority of Brewster and Paris’ own book. Charles Babbage (1792–1871), English scientist and mathematician noted for his calculating machine and his campaign against noise (which he said robbed us of one-quarter of our working life), attributed the discovery of the Thaumatrope to his friend and classmate, John Herschel, the astronomer, (1792–1871). Babbage wrote in his autobiography that one evening Herschel spun a shilling before a mirror so that both sides of it could be visible—the Thaumatrope effect. Dr. William Fitton, Captain Kaster and Dr. William Hyde Wollaston (1766–1828) were told about the method and various Thaumatropes were made, according to Babbage, about 1818 or 1819. “After a lapse of some time the device was forgotten. Then in 1826,” Babbage wrote “during a dinner at the Royal Society Club, Sir Joseph Banks being in the chair, I heard Mr. Barrow, then Secretary to the Admiralty, talking very loudly about a wonderful invention of Dr. Paris, the object of which I could not quite understand.” Babbage then claimed it was his invention. At any rate, Paris and not Herschel, Fitton, Wollaston or Babbage, was the one to popularize the Thaumatrope.

In passing, it may be noted that at the time Paris was making the Thaumatrope well known Babbage was thinking about submarine craft: “Such a vessel” (a four-man submarine equipped for a 48-hour stay under water) “could be propelled by a screw and might enter, without being suspected, any harbour, and place any amount of explosive matter under the bottoms of ships.”