thaumatrope

Thau"ma*trope, n. Etym: [Gr. (Opt.) Defn: An optical instrument or toy for showing the presistence of an impression upon the eyes after the luminous object is withdrawn. Note: It consists of a card having on its opposite faces figures of two different objects, or halves of the same object, as a bird and a cage, which, when the card is whirled rapidlz round a diameter by the strings that hold it, appear to the eye combined in a single picture, as of a bird in its cage.

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