Amongst them you will find all the exercises of the single bar perfected, enlarged, and multiplied—the _simple swings_, _demi-pirouette swings_, _swings on the feet_, _swings standing_, _vaulting acts_, _hands and feet swings_, _hough swings_, _somersault swings_, _heel swings_. Sometimes the artist raises himself, sits on the first bar, opens his legs and profits by the impulse thus received to spring forward upon the other bar (_vaulting act_); sometimes he springs in recoiling, and then turns upon himself to catch the next bar facing him (swing upon the heel); but it must be understood that each acrobat has his particular acts which are combinations of these exercises suited to his dexterity and personal strength, and blended with various _falls_, _somersaults backwards and forwards_, _double somersaults forwards_, _double reversed somersaults_, etc., etc. The _fixed bar_ is also the best school of _vaulting_ or _flying_. Before Léotard invented the _flying trapeze_ by a stroke of genius, _vaulting_ exercises were restricted to the _river jumping_. Acrobats have now rejected with some contempt the two cords which held them prisoners by the wrists; to-day, they are masters of space. This subject reminds me of the modern kings of the trapeze—the two brothers Volta. [Illustration: THE HANLON-VOLTAS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.] These gymnasts belong to a good family. They were educated in England in one of those country colleges where [p261] English boys develop the lobes of their brains and the biceps of their arms at the same time. Thanks to this system, my two friends, although they are the kings of the fixed bar, can also read the _Iliad_ in Greek with great facility. [Illustration] They both worked in a bank, and in the evenings, after dinner, they practised gymnastics for their amusement in a public gymnasium. Naturally supple fine young men, they made wonderful progress. A “manager” who accidentally saw them perform, proposed making an engagement with them. They consulted each other. They laboriously earned 600_l._ per annum between them in the bank. Now the Barnum offered a salary of 160_l._ per month. [p262] The brothers Volta closed their books, crossed the ocean with a somersault, and made their _début_ in America. They joined a band which already possessed two _flying trapezists_ and an _iron arm_, the Hanlons, the genuine pupils of the old Hanlon-Lees. The Voltas’ contributions to the entertainment was a very clever series of performances on the _fixed bars_. This completed the scale of vaulting exercises. The band could make the tour of the world in glorious style with the varied accomplishments of its members.