Before the resources of lance-work were fully understood, the reproduction of famous buildings was a fruitful source of subjects; those reproduced vary from the Crystal Palace itself to Worcester and Salisbury Cathedrals, and from the Arc de Triomphe to the Mosque at Delhi. Natural catastrophes such as the Avalanche, the Eruption of Vesuvius, and the Destruction of Pompeii have been portrayed. The Wreck of the Eider in 1892, with the rescue of the passengers by the lifeboats, formed the subject of a popular set piece; another successful scenic showed a wreck with line-throwing rockets and transport of passengers by the breeches buoy. In 1879 portraits in fire were reproduced for the first time, and since that date those executed have included almost all the Royal Personages of the day, many of which have been fired electrically from the Royal Box by the originals. Other eminent people reproduced range from King Cetewayo in 1882, the Maori King in 1884, Li-Hung-Chang in 1896, to Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in 1920. In 1887 what is known as the transformation set piece was introduced. Upon lighting, the piece exhibits a floral design in colours, which, after burning some time, becomes transformed into a portrait, the lines of which are worked inconspicuously with those of the floral design, and, to use a modern term, camouflaged by its colours, the colour of the portrait being white. [Illustration: A full-size picture of the Jumma Musjid in Fireworks at the Crystal Palace, 1892.] [Illustration: Firework Display for the Coronation Durbar at Delhi, January 3rd, 1903. In the background is the Jumma Musjid.] The first portrait to be so shown was Lord Beaconsfield, the floral design being of primroses, and the occasion Primrose Day. This, for the first example of its kind, was very successful, and later in the year an enormous transformation picture, 200 feet long and 100 feet high, was fired at the Jubilee display, changing to portraits of Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family. A popular picture of this kind is the puzzle picture which transforms from a jungle scene to animals. Another most successful changing picture was entitled “The Seasons,” first produced in 1889, and revived from time to time. A rural scene changes from Spring to Summer, from Summer to Autumn, and finally to Winter. The effect is produced by varying compositions in the lances, and by employing lances of varying length, and requires very exact manipulation and supervision. Patriotic, congratulatory, and political cartoons and devices have been exhibited in wonderful variety of design, sentiment, and language: Chinese, Persian, and Maori, to mention only three of the latter.