Swing

a seat suspended usually by cords, so as to move freely to and fro like a pendulum. Swinging was no doubt an early form of amusement. A cut on a Greek water jar of the fourth century B. C. represents a lady seated in a swinging chair, while another, evidently a companion or servant, stands behind and sends her flying through the air, just as children swing each other nowadays. For want of ropes, colonial children cut off grape vines near the root and swung to and fro, clinging on with their hands; or two vines were cut off and bound together and provided with a seat. Were it not for the slight friction of the bending cord, and the resistance of the air, a swing would go on forever, but for the reasons mentioned, the "cat will die," if given time. It is quite possible for one who understands the method to keep himself going, and even to increase the height to which the swing rises. By standing up and facing each other two persons can do this more successfully than one. Although centrifugal force prevents a person from dropping out of the seat, the swing should not be permitted to pass through much more than one-third of the circumference of a circle. In order that a swing may go to and fro in a straightforward manner, the upper ends of the cord should be fastened on an exact level with each other. The trapeze and similar pieces of apparatus familiar in the circus and the gymnasium have grown out of the swing.