al for the unreal.

For an evening's healthy enjoyment I believe a circus is as good a
place as can be found anywhere. The air there is not close and
vitiated as in a theater; you can spend two or three hours comfortably
without inhaling noxious atmospheres. It is interesting to note that
the circus is perhaps the only form of ancient entertainment which has
retained something of its pristine simplicity. To-day, as in the old
Roman circuses, tiers of seats run round the course, which in the
larger circuses is still in the form of an ellipse, with its vertical
axis, where the horses and performers enter, cut away. But the modern
world has nothing in this connection to compare with the Circus Maximus
of Rome, which, according to Pliny, held a quarter of a million
spectators. It is singular, however, that while the old Roman circuses
were held in permanent buildings, modern circuses are mostly travelling
exhibitions in temporary erections. In some respects the entertainment
offered has degenerated with the change, for we have to-day nothing in
the circus to correspond to the thrilling chariot races in which the
old Romans delighted. I wonder that in these days of restless search
for novelties some one does not re-introduce the Roman chariot race
under the old conditions, and with a reproduction of the old
surroundings. It would be as interesting and as exciting as, and
certainly less dangerous than, polo played in automobiles, which I
understand is one of the latest fads in the West. A modern horse-race,
with its skill, daring and picturesqueness, is the only modern
entertainment comparable to the gorgeous races of the Romans.

The exhibition of skillful feats of horsemanship and acrobatic displays
by juvenile actors, rope-dancing, high vaulting and other daring
gymnastic feats seen in any of our present-day circuses are
interesting, but not new. The Romans had many clever tight-rope
walkers, and I do not think they used the long pole loaded at the ends
to enable them to maintain their equilibrium, as do some later
performers. Japanese tumblers are very popular and some of their
tricks clever, but I think the Western public would find Chinese
acrobats a pleasant diversion. With practice, it would seem as if when
taken in hand during its supple years there is nothing that cannot be
done with the human body. Sometimes it almost appears as if it were
boneless, so well are people able by practice to make use of t