Any one who has put on the belt of a gymnast, if but for [p257] one trial, has practised on the single bar the following rudimentary exercises:— [Illustration] 1. _Breasting the bar_, which consists in gently drawing the body, without jerking it, to the level of the bar, by the contraction of the biceps. 2. _Circling the bar_—curling the body gently over the bar head forward, holding tightly with the hands. 3. _Simultaneous “upstart”_—the elevation of the body [p258] above the bar, with both arms through a spring from the back—“_temps de reins_.” 4. _Alternative “upstart”_—one arm after the other. 5. _Upstart on one leg_, which has a corollary called _German upstart_ or _swinging_. 6. “_Cutaway up_,” which is obtained by giving a strong spring, which throws the body forward, brings it back again in a natural swing, and is completed by an “upstart.” 7. _Long swings or giant swings, forwards and backwards._ This is a series of rapid somersaults round the bar, executed with extended arms. At times they are so rapid that the body describes a succession of circles round the bar, like the arms of a windmill. 8. _Hough swings._ This exercise resembles the preceding one, but the bar is grasped below the kneecaps, without the assistance of the hands. 9. _Hands and feet swings._ This is performed backwards or forwards; the hands and feet are both placed on the bar, the hands outside, the feet inside. This is a fairly complete list of the exercises of an amateur, but very few of them practise the whole series. They pause at the “upstarts,” and at once pass to the _double bars_ or _parallel bars_, which possess the hygienic virtue of widely opening the chest and developing the biceps. Circus gymnastics usually commence with the _triple parallel bars_. There are a few acrobats who perform with the single bar and a _double “batoude_,” but I have only seen one specialist with the _parallel bars_—Gustave de Penthièvre, who is rarely seen now in the hippodromes. [Illustration] On the other hand, the _triple parallel bars_ offer signal [p259] advantages for acrobats, through the opportunities they provide for numerous and very varied exercises. They enable several gymnasts to appear together, and thus give [p260] the artists breathing-time whilst their companions perform their share of the entertainment. These frequent intervals of rest are indispensable, on account of the exhaustion which follows the violent exertions of the gymnasts. The series of acrobatics performed upon the fixed _triple bars_ are called passes.