ed to the eye, a single picture would
apparently be viewed, or if we presented to the eye the series
of photographs of a moving object, each one representing a minute
successive phase of the movement, the movements themselves would
apparently again take place.

With the Zoetrope and similar toys rough drawings were used for
depicting a few broadly outlined successive phases of movement, because
in their day instantaneous photography was unknown, and in addition
there were certain crudities of construction that seriously interfered
with the illumination of the pictures, rendering it necessary to make
them practically as silhouettes on a very conspicuous background.
Hence it will be obvious that these toys produced merely an ILLUSION of
THEORETICAL motion.

But with the knowledge of even an illusion of motion, and with the
philosophy of persistence of vision fully understood, it would
seem that, upon the development of instantaneous photography, the
reproduction of ACTUAL motion by means of pictures would have followed,
almost as a necessary consequence. Yet such was not the case, and
success was ultimately accomplished by Edison only after persistent
experimenting along lines that could not have been predicted, including
the construction of apparatus for the purpose, which, if it had not been
made, would undoubtedly be considered impossible. In fact, if it were
not for Edison's peculiar mentality, that refuses to recognize anything
as impossible until indubitably demonstrated to be so, the production of
motion pictures would certainly have been delayed for years, if not for
all time.

One of the earliest suggestions of the possibility of utilizing
photography for exhibiting the illusion of actual movement was made by
Ducos, who, as early as 1864, obtained a patent in France, in which
he said: "My invention consists in substituting rapidly and without
confusion to the eye not only of an individual, but when so desired of a
whole assemblage, the enlarged images of a great number of pictures when
taken instantaneously and successively at very short intervals....
The observer will believe that he sees only one image, which changes
gradually by reason of the successive changes of form and position of
the objects which occur from one picture to the other. Even supposing
that there be a slight interval of time during which the same object was
not shown, the persistence of the luminous impression upon the eye
will fill this