Fig. 145.—Maze Toy by S. D. Nix. (After Patent Specification.)
R. A. Cuthbert and W. Bevitt patented in 1889 a toy in which a ball, called "The Man in the Maze," is rolled about inside a small closed box, the internal partitions of which cannot be seen but are indicated on the outside of the case. The "Man" is invisible during his journey.
At about the same time a somewhat similar toy was brought out by J. Proctor, in which, however, the travelling ball can be watched through the glass top, the puzzle element in this case consisting of the use of circular holes of two sizes for communicating between adjacent compartments, one size being just large enough to permit of the passage of the ball, the other just too small ([Fig. 147]).
Fig. 146.—Maze Toy by J. M. Arnot. (After Patent Specification.)
Fig. 147.—Maze Toy by J. Proctor. (After Patent Specification.)
The most complex puzzle of the kind so far produced is that patented by H. Bridge in 1906 and shown in [Fig. 148]. The ball in this case is made to pass through channels formed between projections of labyrinthine pattern fixed to a base and others fixed to the transparent top, which can be moved relatively to the base. The toy may be of a circular pattern or rectangular. In the former case the top is rotated, in the latter it is slid from side to side. The patent also covers cases in which the toy is constructed on the "skeleton" principle, the use of a ring in place of a ball, and the combination of more than two mazes.
