THE CAMERA 



5i5 



YOUNG OF BIGEYE (PSEUDOPRIACAXTHUS ALTUS). 



the while — with plenty of patience and 

 increasing' experience you will not re- 

 gret either the time or the labor ex- 

 pended. 



The Camera Chiefly a Tool. 



It is to be regretted, notwithstanding 

 the widespread use of cameras of all 

 grades of value and size, that there is 

 such a lack of real interest in the in- 

 strument itself. Ask ninety-nine hun- 

 dredths of the camera users for full 

 particulars in regard to the aperture, 

 the focal length and other features of 

 his lenses ; the extent of the swing, side 

 and back, of the meaning of the figures 

 on the diaphragm, and they will be un- 

 able to tell you. 



To our old camera users who are fa- 

 miliar with the intense interest of the 

 amateur microscopist of some fifteen or 

 twenty-five years ago, this state of af- 

 fairs is astonishing. It is undoubtedly 

 true that at times the microscopist of 

 those days carried his interest in the in- 



strument to an extreme. The demands 

 that he made on the optician were often 

 ludicrous. Not long ago one of our 

 manufacturing opticians said to me, 

 "You would be amused to see the 

 strange requests we had for grading 

 and marking everything movable on 

 the microscope." Even if some of these 

 are unnecessary they represent a com- 

 mendable enthusiasm for a wonderful 

 tool. 



A camera as a tool is no less wonder- 

 ful, and should be the object of a reason- 

 able amount of interest. Think of the 

 love or the friendship that has no re- 

 gard for the person of him for whom 

 one has the affection, the friendly feel- 

 ing! Do you put in the cellar the 

 friend whom you respect, or when he 

 calls do you entertain him in the chick- 

 en-house? Do you leave your camera 

 under the dripping eaves, or let the cat 

 sharpen her claws on its surface? The 

 camerist should love his camera or 

 should at least be on friendly terms 

 with it. which means that he 



