grain or markings, the varied veins and gradations, before unseen, were now brought out, and a thing of beauty was discovered, which was still higher truth." A poet wroteThan a tree, a grander child earth bears not; What are the boasted palaces of men, Imperial city, or triumphal arch, To forests of immeasurable extent? How he would have stared had he been told that all this was merely "natural truth," and that if he wanted to discover" a still higher truth," he should go to his diningroom table and pore over "all the delicate grains or mark ings, the varied veins and gradations," which the French polisher had brought out on its surface. I think this photographer and art writer ought to be dubbed, "the French polisher of photographic art." Ruskin once wrote of certain staring evils in art:-"The cause lies in the painter taking upon himself to modify God's works at his pleasure, casting the shadow of himself on all he sees, constituting himself arbiter where it is honour to be a disciple, and exhibiting his ingenuity by the attainment of combinations whose highest praise is that they are impossible." Shall such errors, abandoned by modern painters, be perpetuated in our photographs? Pencil Jottings. POSING AND GROUPING. BY R: A. SEYMOUR. FIG I Fig. 1. for a future number. Y posing jottings, two in number, are--fig. 1 from a sketch by Miss Edwards, and fig. 2, from a photograph by J. Gunney. The groupings are-fig. 3, from a very beautiful photograph, by our greatest master in photographic art, O. G. Rejlander; fig. 4, from a painting by Eastlake; and fig. 5, from a photograph by Gauntlett Brothers, of Chelsea. To group two figures well is far more difficult than the grouping of three or more figures proves to be, and I think, therefore, this week's examples should be found useful by my photographic readers and friends. I have to thank Mr. Dawson for the loan of an album of children's portraits, by Ross and Pringle, from which I shall be able to cull a group of useful suggestions BY THOMAS SUTTON, B.A. (Concluded from page 151.) WE have now arrived at the last article of this series, viz., that in which I have to describe the copying-camera. Let us first consider the conditions of the problem, What is this camera required to do? A plate 3 inches square, containing a circular negative 24in. diameter, has to be inserted at one end, and enlarged from one and a half to two and a half times linear. The plate upon which the print is taken must therefore be 6 inches square, in order to allow sufficient margin, that is to say, twice the size of a common stereoscopic plate. That will be the smallest size allowable. Suppose we say, in round numbers, that the plate of opal glass upon which the print is taken is 7 inches square. The next consideration will be the equivalent focal length of the copying lens, and the respective distances of the negative, and the opal plate from it. The less obliquity the marginal pencils have the better; but, on the other hand, some disadvantages will arise from having the camera too long. We must strike a practical mean between extremes, bearing in mind that it is not rapidity of exposure which we want, but sharpness of definition. The wet collodion plate would bear an exposure of ten minutes, if that were necessary. If the equivalent focal length of the copying lens be 8 inches, and the negative be placed 12 inches from it, and the print 24 inches from it, the magnification will be twice linear. In this case there would be a distance of 3 feet between the negative and the print, and the obliquity of the marginal pencils would be small, and would not exceed about six degrees. When the negative is to be magnified 2 times linear, its distance from the lens must be about 11 inches, and the distance of the print from the lens must be 28 inches. When the negative is to be magnified 1 times linear, its distance from the lens must be about 13 inches, and the distance of the print from the lens must be 20 inches. It follows from these calculations that the sliding part of the camera which carries the negative must be capable of adjustment through a space of about 2 inches; whilst the sliding part which carries the print must be capable of adjustment through 8 inches, the lens being supposed to be fixed. But the above calculation is made on the supposition of the lens being a straight line. As it is a combination, and not a straight line, the above results will be slightly modified; but they will be near enough to the truth to serve as a guide to the optician, in his first trial camera. We have next to consider the best form of copying lens; and here we must remember that the negative being slightly affected with barrel-shaped distortion, that fault has to be arrested by a copying lens, which gives the opposite kind of distortion. It is evident, therefore, that we must use a copying lens of the orthographic form. This instrument has the advantage of being aplanatic, with a large stop, and of lengthening the oblique pencils so as to give a flat field. With a moderately small stop, I believe this lens will give a splendidly sharp enlarged print. Fig. 3. One more consideration, and the last, is this. In the opera-glass camera the axis of the lens always cuts the centre of the picture. There is no provision made for shifting the lens up or down, as in common cameras. It has no sliding front. The camera will therefore sometimes have to be "cocked," or depressed, to suit the view. This introduces a formidable kind of distortion, by which the vertical lines of architecture are made to converge upwards if the camera is cocked, and downwards if it is depressed. But, as I before remarked, in the article on the opera-glass camera, this is of no consequence, because the distortion can be rectified in the copying-camera. I will now proceed to show how this may be done. negative to that of the print, at a suitable angle, the distortion will be greatly reduced. Observe, I do not say that this angle is to be exactly the same as the other, or that the distortion will be completely got rid of. That would only happen in a particular case, which would cause failure in other conditions. What I say is, that in such a camera as I propose, distortion can be greatly reduced by inclining the plane of the print to that of the negative. In the kind of subjects which an artist will commonly take, it will be rendered quite inappreciable. In order to incline the plane of the negative to that of the print, both planes had better be capable of receiving an inclination, and not one of them only. The reason of this is shown by the figures on the following page. A Ls is the axis of the copying camera; L, the lens ; FS, the negative; fs the print; F, denoting the foreground of the negative, and S, the sky. Now, when the planes FS, fs, are inclined as in the figure, FL being longer than SL, Ls will be longer than Lf, as it ought to be, according to the law of conjugate foci. Thus the points s and f, which are the foci of S and F, will be about as sharp as if the two plates were parallel, and in their normal position. It is better therefore to divide the inclination between both the planes, than to incline only one of them to the axis of the camera. The figure is of course much exaggerated. I am well aware, however, that this mode of proceeding will not theoretically be a perfect cure for distortion. In order to cure distortion perfectly, the copying lens should be placed at the same distance from the negative as the lens in the camera; and in copying, the plane of the print should not be inclined to the axis of the camera, but only the plane of the negative, and that at the same angle as was necessary in taking the view. The mode of copying which I propose is only to be regarded as a palliative of the evil, and not as an absolute cure. For instance, in the figure, A is the centre of a circular negative, but a is not the centre of a circular print. The print will be elliptical, and the space occupied in it by the foreground will be reduced in proportion to that occupied by the sky. The point, a, will not be the centre of the print. All this I am well aware of; but, nevertheless, I would suggest to the optician to try my suggestion, because it will have the effect of destroying the convergency of vertical lines, and the other kind of distortion introduced will be unimportant in landscape studies. The distortion above alluded to is produced in consequence of the plane of the picture being put out of the vertical, and therefore at an angle with any system of And here I would take the opportunity of suggesting, vertical lines, such as the vertical lines of buildings. But that in photographic portraiture, when M. Disderi's mode if, in the process of copying, we incline the plane of the of printing in a copying-camera is adopted, some flattery of the sitter may be introduced, by employing a copyingcamera such as I describe. For instance, take the negative in a camera with a swing back, and let the plate be so inclined that the bottom of it, where the head is, may be Fig. 1. Fig. 2. has always been in the direction of simplicity. No doubt others can improve upon it still further, and I shall be sincerely glad to hear of every good modification which can be introduced. Should my plan of copying-camera be thought a little complex, I can only say in defence of it, that unless you take some precautions, distortion will often be introduced to a great extent, and I think it better to introduce the necessary means for remedying it in the copying-camera, which always remains at home, than into the little pocket apparatus, which should be as simple as possible. The chief objections to the mode of working which I propose will, I think, be found to consist in the magnification of every minute blemish in the negative, and in the little cares which are necessary in transferring the print. But these objections have many great and important advantages as a set-off to them. I find I have omitted to speak of the colouring of the back of the negative with yellow paint, in order to prevent blurring; and also of the probable good effect which might arise from adding some such organic matter as castor-oil to the collodion used in printing, for the purpose of increasing the richness and vigour of the proof. I would also suggest the insertion of a little screw near the open end of the jacket of the opera-glass camera, which might be used in order to tighten the sliding-lens tube when in position. No other omission occurs to me at present. farther from the lens than the top of it, where the feet are. This will exaggerate the size of the head and shoulders, and reduce the size of the lower part of the figure. Again, in copying from the negative, incline it as in fig. 1, and the print also, so that S may be the head, and F the feet. This will exaggerate the size of the head still more in the print, and will reduce the size of the feet, knees, crinoline, flounces, &c. When this "dodge" is employed, you must be Since I began these articles in February, I have observed careful, however, not to introduce such accessories as will with much pleasure that Mr. Dawson has been succeeding tell tales by their perspective. I am simply in these re-admirably with the bromised collodion process, and with marks pointing out how a dodge may be introduced; I offer no opinion as to the legitimacy of it. A working drawing of this copying-ca easily made. It is shown in fig. 2. -camera may now be The camera is composed of two parts-one of wood, having a sliding body, and a swing back, for a plate 7 inches square; the other, a round brass tube for carrying the negative. This has the orthographic copying lens screwed to it at one end, and a sliding tube at the other, furnished with a rack and pinion. This tube, which will be about 14 in. long, and 4 in. diameter, will be screwed to a flange in the front of the square wooden camera. The hoop inside the tube which carries the negative, is to be inserted so as to turn on its axis by a little handle outside. The wooden camera, with its sliding body and swing back, is of the common form. There may be added to it, underneath, some such contrivance as I have suggested in the figure, for elevating it at any angle, when placed upon a table. I advise the reader on no account to use a reflector, but always to point the axis of the camera towards the northern sky. The diaphragm of the copying lens should always be behind it, and not between the lenses, as shown in Monckhoven's optics. When placed behind the concave lens there is less risk of flare from internal reflections within the convex meniscus. It will be seen that the copying lens is a fixture, and that the distances of the negative and the print from it can both be altered at pleasure. Line everything with black velvet, where that is possible. I have now come to the end of this series of articles on "Landscape Photography." The process described has been but little employed as yet, and the apparatus is quite a new idea of my own, and existing at present only upon paper. The branch of photography which I suggest, viz., taking artistic"bits," is to a great extent new also, for people have been running after views." I have published frankly every idea which has occurred to me in connection with this subject, and have kept nothing back, and have always, so far as I was able, given a reason for what I advance. Whether this mode of working will ever be popular it is impossible for me to predict; but I have endeavoured, as much as possible, to simplify everything without sacrificing any real advantage. The design for the apparatus, as it first occurred to me, was much more complex than that which I have now published, and every change in it the plates of the Liverpool Company; also that Dr. Hill Norris is now advertising similar plates for alkaline development; that Mr. Rouch is advertising bromised collodion made with pure ether, according to Major Russell's formula; and that Messrs. Negretti and Zambra are advertising a pocket camera and walking-stick tripod as nearly ready. This indicates a little pressure from without, as well as a desire to introduce the novelties to which I have endeavoured to direct attention. May the approaching season bring convincing proof that my advice, contained in this series of articles, has been sound and practical in the main! Provincial Gossip. EDINBURGH. BY SEL D'OR. SINCE my last letter the days are lengthening, the light improving, and our amateurs are collecting and examining their traps, preparatory for the summer campaign. Not less than ten new members were balloted for at the last meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, and amongst them Mr. Sanford, junr., who was anxious for some opportunity of speaking a few words to the society anent the M. A. Salomon photographs, on behalf of this talented gentleman, who, Mr. Sanford declared, never held up as untouched the works recently so severely handled by our sub-committee appointed to analyse and report on them as touched or untouched works. Certain over-enthusiastic admirers connected with some English photographic journals claimed notice for them as untouched photographs, but the artist himself, it is said, advanced none such. Still, finding the error publicly circulated, M. Salomon should, I think, have taken the little trouble necessary to disabuse the public mind. It was his silence, as much as his injudicious friends' noisy praise, which gave the false statement colour, and he must blame himself when he hears his conduct justly denounced as wanting in honesty. But, by this time, we are all weary of the subject, and I will not dwell upon it. Mr. Sanford invited the members of the society to meet him in Messrs. Ross and Pringle's studio the evening after the meeting, that he might exhibit to them an apparatus for enlarging and copying pictures-which he was sorry had not come to hand in time for the meeting-by the be. magnesium light, which is quite dazzling in its brilliancy, works quickly, effectively, and at very small expense, the cost of a picture being from a halfpenny to a penny, according to the density or thinness of the negative employed, occupying from thirty to sixty seconds, as the case may The burning and paying out of the wire from a cylinder is regulated by clock-work, which seems quite simple in its construction and easily managed. The apparatus has attached to it a tin tube, with a bend in it to adapt it for carrying off the fumes of the magnesium while being consumed; this is turned upwards in any convenient place. A large company assembled to witness the experiments, which were very successful, and were disposed of to the abundant satisfaction of both Mr. Sanford and the members of the society. The magnesium lamp is an invention and patent of Mr. Solomon's, and the cost of it complete is six guineas. We understand it was by this method that Professor Piazzi Smythe obtained the negative of the famous Pyramid of Gish, of the king's and queen's chambers, sarcophagus, &c., which were taken on plates about an inch square. Where no daylight finds access it is an invaluable agent in enabling us to obtain true and correct representations of what could not be accurately described or attained in any other way, as well as affording amusement to those who are badly situated for light in the short dark days of winter. Another great advantage it possesses, is the ability of the operator to take pictures by it any size his fancy may dictate, by removing the picture to be taken, a longer or shorter distance from the lens, regulating the focus accordingly. The whole apparatus is very por table. the water runs quietly down without moving the prints. E, are wires which run across the top of the vessel, from which the prints are hung. F F, shows a print suspended by clips. These wires are placed about two inches apart, and are fixed in a movable frame. Only three wires are shown in the above diagram, but any number can be used by making the vessel sufficiently wide. D, is the syphon which discharges the waters into the ball-cock box, L, described in the last diagram sent you. Both my washing machines are placed in a large waste trough, so that I do not fear though any of the pipes should accidentally get choked. A FEW JOTTING S.-I I I. BY J. C. LEAKE. PHOTOGRAPHING INTERIORS. ALL who have been engaged in photographing interiors will at once remember that one of the chief difficulties to be overcome is the solarisation or "burning up" of all interest is mostly the altar; and this is nearly always detail in the windows. In churches, the chief point of surmounted by a stained-glass window of large dimensions, admitting an immense amount of light. Of course the principal source of light in the building. Besides this, it camera is pointed directly at this, and it is mostly the often happens that this window is of beautiful design, and of the greatest interest. Now, to lose all detail in this is very annoying, and various methods have been from time to time proposed for overcoming the evil, none of which have perfectly succeeded. Of course to cover the window with canvas, as has been proposed, would in many cases be quite out of the question, SELF-ACTING MACHINE FOR WASHING LARGE as often the window is so large and lofty as to be out. PRINTS. BY JAMES SHIVAS. As promised when I sent you diagram and description of my machine for washing small prints, I now forward to you a sketch of the one I have finished, and am now using for larger sized pictures. I find it very efficient, and it saves a great amount of labour. The plan of admitting and stopping the water is the same as in last diagram, but the mode of washing is entirely different. The water is admitted gently from the top of the vessel, instead of rising with force from below. The supply-pipe leading round the top is pierced in the lower side by small holes, from which the water quietly trickles down the sides of the vessel. The prints are suspended by the edge from tinned wires stretched across the top; the margins of the prints are doubled over the wires, and glass clips attached. Clips are also useful at the lower edge, their weight preventing the prints from coming in contact or rising with the water. The nature of the machine will be more fully understood by the diagram which I give below. Fig. A, is the washing-vessel. B, a perforated zinc bottom. C, is the water supply-pipe leading from the ballcock round the top of the vessel, the water being admitted by small holes made in the lower side of the pipe, so that of reach without the erection of a scaffold; while, as before stated, should the window be the chief source of light, in in the interior of the building. Such a remedy would blocking it up we of course shut out the light required therefore be worse than the disease. I at once candidly confess that I have nothing to propose which will altogether remove the difficulty, but I would offer one or two hints which I hope may prove useful to those engaged in this difficult branch of the art. In the first place, it is of the highest importance to choose a lens which is perfectly free from " flare," as, should there be the slightest tendency to this, it will be greatly exaggerated by the unfavourable conditions of lighting, the principal light being directly in front of the lens. Secondly, as in some cases the chemical conditions of the collodion and bath favour solarisation and blurring of the image, they should be carefully tested before use, and, if defective, at once rejected. A freshly-made bath, and a moderately old and fully bromised collodion, will probably be found the best; and lastly, care should be taken to avoid all reflecting surfaces on the lenses inside the camera, or on the back of the plate. I should recommend that a piece of black velvet or cloth, of the size required, be damped, and placed in close contact with the back of the plate; this will stop all reflection from behind the sensitive surface. Should these precautions prove insufficient-and I feel assured that they sometimes will-I would suggest that, after a satisfactory negative. has been obtained of the interior-excepting only the windows (which may be overexposed)-a second negative be taken, without moving the camera, of the window only, and exposed only so long as to give the requisite detail. The window in the first negative should then be carefully blocked out, so as to leave a blank space in the print. When this is sufficiently printed, the second negative may be carefully placed over the print. and all, except the windows, being properly blocked out, they may be printed to the required depth. See article by Mr. Dawson, at p. 162. I think that by these means the difficulty may be overcome. Of course there will be the extra trouble involved in taking two negatives, and in double printing; but when the pictures are of large size, and are required of first-rate quality, we feel sure that this will be no obstacle to the photographer, who will be amply repaid by the increased beauty of the resulting pictures. Questions and Suggestions. THE M'LACHLAN SECRET. that, with his glamour-bath and doubly-bewitched developer, I am only too willing to believe that it was this consideration PETER PLUCK. SIR, When, with a flourish of trumpets, Mr. M'Lachlan proclaimed his unique, economic, and unprecedented discovery, I was one of those too credulous mortals who, beguiled by that magniloquent fanfare, imagined that he had found out some superior method of combining silver direct with the collodion, and I wrote to him to inquire. However, I presume he was so taken up maturing his "secret," that he totally forgot to answer my too inquisitive letter. Great, indeed, was my surprise when, from published notices, I learned that the 400 faultless negatives which he assumed he could produce from 2 ozs. of silver, were concocted somewhat on the homoeopathic principle. When the bath gets low, more silver solution must be added to keep up the level, and thus it became analogous to the old lady's penknife, which received five new blades and three new handles, "and was still the same knife." The great bath of the 400, although aided, abetted, and assisted by one or two subsequent charges of solution, is still the primitive-the ne plus ultra-parencies are backed by a beautifully even waxy coating, which and like a pugilistic Irishman, “is good to the last drop." I greatly desire to imitate. Could any of my brother photographers assist me ?-Yours, &c., A SUBSCRIBER. This specious reasoning is completely forgotten and overlooked, when we learn the manipulation and explanation of this precious bath solution. No wonder if our august photographers felt their teeth chattering and their hair standing on end, for here was subject for unfeigned amazement and unmitigated wonder. All our preconceived ideas of theory were ruthlessly overthrown, all our dogmas of analytic chemistry falsified, and the deductions of our present practice clearly shown to be fallacious, deficient, and totally unreliable. When I read that Mr. M'Lachlan complacently explained all this before an audience composed of some of the ablest savants in England, I thought of the apt story of King James and the fish, for they all seemed to swallow it down like mothers' milk, and to believe it as they do the Gospel. Not one of those great masters of science, from Mr. downwards, or upwards, protested against the astonishing doctrine which gave to the winds all our investigated and inferred ideas of photographic combination and arrangement. And although some of us ignorant fellows outside the pale of that brilliant society might have detected the transparent absurdity of a sophistic enthusiast who sees practice through a pin-hole, and theory through a cracked negative, yet those savants gathered round and listened with opened mouths and wrapt attention to the unfolding of this panacea, ready to cry Eureka! And when the magic developer was propounded, they yet remained spell-bound in mute ecstatic meditation, no doubt profoundly ruminating, not so much on the length of their ears as on the qualities of that nostrum which might better have been added to the heterogeneous contents of a certain cauldron," Double, double, toil and trouble." Alas! alas! ye savants, my goosequill blushes like a boiled lobster for your delinquency, at least, you should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so." 66 Amongst the wise men who were not present is a Mr. Dawson. I have not the pleasure of knowing him, but from his writings I fancy he must be the Dr. Johnson of science, a sort of photographic giant, one who will "naught extenuate, or set down aught in malice." Now, this intellectual colossus watched the mountain, and when he heard that it was safely delivered of a mouse, pounced like a hungry cat on the squeaking" varmint," and certainly would have made very short work of it, if a certain bull-dog, called Fact (facts are always stubborn things), had not leaped out in its defence and yelped, in canine parlance, that "nobody has denied that Mr. Mouse has done good things with his wonderful mixture;" and he further barked to Mr. Dawson, that "Mr. D. might as well think of swallowing a raw porcupine, tail-end foremost, twisting his heels into the toes of his boots, making a fortune by photographic experiments, or anything equally ingenious and impossible, as of annihilating that little squeaker, unless Mr. D. first shows BACKING TRANSPARENCIES. SIR,-What is the best solution for producing the effect of ground glass for backing transparencies? I have tried a solution of white wax in chloroform, and find it impossible to get an even film. I have also tried the use of melted paraffine, but the grain of the film is very coarse. The French stereo-trans Heplies and Discussions. SELF-ACTING WASHING MACHINES. SIR,-Referring to your article on washing machines, published in the last number of THE ILLUSTRATED PHOTOGRAPHER, I observe that you fall into the mistake of supposing that my improvements on Thomson's washing machine are identical with those claimed by Mr. Collier and Mr. Shivas as theirs, whereas mine are entirely different. The "ball-cock" plan (which they have "discovered," and which you have described) is an old one of mine, which I had working for some time, but gave up for one more sure in its action, and free from certain freaks which the ball-cock is apt to indulge in. One serious objection (amongst others) to that plan is, that unless the pressure of the water is strong and regular, so as to ensure the prompt action of the syphon, the water will go over gently and raise the ball before the syphon "chokes," and so derange the whole action of the machine. My arrangement is also more portable and handy than theirs. I expected to have had a supply of my machines ready a month ago, but have not yet got them out of the potters' hands. In order, however, to prevent anyone who may have seen my designs from publishing them (I never kept any of them secret), and afterwards upbraiding me for making use of them, I shall Α here briefly describe two of them. The first is perhaps the best, where the saving of water is no object. In it the stop-cock is dispensed with:-A, tub; B, drainer; C, small syphon made of gastin tube; D, flexible supplypipe; E, lever working on the fulcrum, F having a weight, G, at one end, and a small tin pan, H, at the other -this pan is provided with a small opening near the bottom; K, valve in the bottom of the tub; L1 and L2, two cranks hinged at the angles; M1 and M2, two wires attached to the small brass plate, N, which slides backwards and forwards over the orifice of D; Pl and P2, small chains attaching the cranks to the lever. Pl. P2 H The mode of action will now be seen at a glance. When the tub is full, C discharges into H, which falls by the weight of |