Pictures and the Picturegoer (October 1915 - March 1916)

1)1 NO PICTURES AND Hill PICTURE* M'll ll.l\ cameras did such dutj for h i . ■ ii > ►> I of two The life in similar ra i •l'l>.> species of wolf-sp tht? mi ' i.. • : \ inches i ken i lie ini'losnre waa • il li n ami wet i.i |irovide the proper moisture, for spidei . particularly d The care ol tliis spider was more la1>orioua than thai iinimal. Soft h .died grubs were hunted for her, and she ■ il drink int; watt r hj permit tine miniature drops to run in ili i broom straw. These precautions wwe neees ving the absolute cleanliness of her Muj yard, which t'ii the projecting screen ia magnified thousands of .11,1 The Bpmning of In was successful lj accomplished. Willi much anxiety the time was awaited when the v"1" spiders would emerge nnd crawl npon the i arent's back hundreds of them presenting a>> indescribable spectacle. This chapter of the famil] historj Was recorded. Then came a wail of eight ■aye until the infant <•■ uld -warm from tin mother's back and shin for thempeli > So manj of the insert are nlmosl nicroscopic, amis,, manj perform their ■ape re inmaeeessil leplacesthal the value. ■of greatly enlarged motion-picture por tray a I1 'pen previonslj impossible o] porlunitie for studio :.•'•! school in observations \ i • ne child in a million a the katydid sing; the t . »i t■ t ofa ■rand a grasshopper as she earefnllj fallen iln-t from hi r t tee; or the snider, led as a terrific monster, and s< en upon the screen as the fly sees this ternenij .d' the'inseel legions. A Jungle Circus in Motion Pictures. It was quite by accident that Dr. bit mars got the idea for his Jungle Ciivns which he has produced in motionpictures. One altera on while at work in his studio endeavouring t<< prj into the family life of A strange insect that had been given him. he discovered the fact that the insect had a sense of humour whieli manifested itsell in various queer antie-. Dr. Ditmars placed the lens of ■is camera within two inches of the insect's head and reeled off fifty feet of film greatly magnified. A week later he projected this film for some of his friends, with the result that they found Mr. Bug :t very comical chap Dr. Ditmars was himself surprised at the ease with which he played the comedian's role. This was the beginning ol the Jangle Circus. In the course of years he has added to it. bit by hit. until he now has a full reel of natural animal drolleries incorporated in The Hook of Xature, simply for entertaining purposes' and to show that educational pictures need never he dry nor uninteresting. "Star Turns" by Frogs, Monkeys, and Rats. Dr. Ditmars' Jungle Circus opens without any music other than the croaking of a few frogs, who solemnly hop in and occupy, seats of vantage upon toadstools arranged like so many orchestra chairs. Off to "lie side Mr. Chameleon waits the opening act. observing the woodland stage with ttieofhisbig eye and keeping tabs on his arch enemy the snake with the other eye ti it operates on a universal joint. The performance is on ! From the wings a troupe of Borneo Galogos tile . nit and run through their act with all the sangfroid of seasoned vaudevillians. They are a low form of the monkey family, and their habitat \< the interior of Borneo. A fine specimen of the Donraconli monkey has a set of horizontal bars on which to show his agility and amazing and concludes his exhibition by 'skinning the cat"' and making faces. RAYMOND L. DITMARS, Curator of the New York Zoological Park, whose collection of deadly reptiles and small animals has been filmed by TransAtlantic at finger's breadth range. roll. ,vho hull uf the A Cl ihly i Inn. IIhi/. and the] -li mlder, In proporl iou to their iixc t In • t leapera in the worl l i formances tnej demonstrate I if then ■ I Ik l)i\ lag I rog nnd the .1 ly. Nexl comes the water act I iy Vi thi She the Annette Eellerman of hei trate all of the famous dives thai in bers or the human race have been serving np to vande> ills patron« foi veai Tin \ is followed by a versatile tr ape of tree toads, who (rive an exhibit; !l -.-Id. .m equal led l>j actors . ii i be tw.> a-da] l ime. ambil ions little fellow skims up a i hand ovi r ba tid, The] ma !-.• met rj i in a tighl wjre, passing each other and otherwise varying their performance, \ toad, with the assistance of a trick photography, gives the mosl astounding exhibition of being everywhere at the same time, making impossible lei and tilting himself off I boards. A beadliner act is the juggling fly, just a c. .in in. .ii house-fly, obi nt at ter. He is f the kind thai can Light on a hairless bead with the same nonchalance with which he promenadei icross a ceiling. Seated majesticall] on a houdah npon the b of an elephant lit' enters. The audience yes, there is an audience as an audience expresses its approval in various ways. The Salamander grins and gi way to heart] laughter; the beetles nod their funny heads vigorously, th ■ frogs shift their positions, then a deadly quiet falls npon the denizens of the jungle as Sir Fly proceeds to juggle a dumliell, weighted at l*>th ends, that appears to be about ti-.e times his size. Dp and down, over and over speeds the dunibell, but not once does Sir Fly slip np, and be is still juggling with telling effect as the elephant, bearing him upon his ba makes au exit. Bugs and Mice as Ballet Dancers. The circus has its funny little dancing number. This is the exceedingly graceful quartette of walking leaf bugs from Ceylon, who pirouette and frolic with the abandon and charm of a grand opera ballet. Then on come the dancing mice, cunning little rodents that whirl and gyrate like spinning-tops. Their act suggests the whirling dervishes of the Orient. If you were to see a common black beetle with a chair on his back in which a fly. reclining easily, juggled a dumbell with his feet, you might be "seeing things.' On the other hand, it might be only a special performance of Raymond L. Ditmars' bug circus ; for, in addition to his work as Curator ol NewYorkZoologic.il Park, he has established a school lor bugs and reptiles, where for three years he has been administering " Kultur " of a m >st amazing sort. The whole bug circus tliat he lias developed has l>een preserved in motion pictures, and the amazing perlormani the beetle and fly here detailed is only one of the many acts presented: A family of field-mice afford an exhibition of tightrope walking that would shame any acrobat. A mother snake displays reptilian nursery methods by swallowing entire brood at the first alarm of danger. The Jungle Circus is surely a new idea in comedy. We wonder if Dr. Ditmars will discover an insect Billy Ritchie?