Magic lantern used to project this type of circular slide was of German design, and was available c.1850. Magic lantern slides were popular in the 1890s. This design was for domestic use, and the slide was illuminated by an oil lamp,and projected a circular image. The slides, often hand coloured, were often mounted six to a small disk. This one in particular has eight hand coloured images. It tells the story of the pied piper or the rat-catcher of Hameln, a town in Germany, who comes into a small village and leads the rats away, only to return when he receives no payment, to lead the children away. The title is written on the slide in three languages, English, French (Le preneur de rats de Hameln) and German (Der rattenfanger v. Hameln)